Consider This
Things To Think About While Embarking On Change.
For a recent milestone birthday I created a list of rules, principles, guides and things for life!
It was a good exercise to complete. A mix of help for storytelling, advice, accountability and so on. For myself.
A couple weeks ago I broke one of the rules and it impacted me. Made me think, whether to remove it from the list or is it a chance to reflect on why something did or didn’t happen?
Like that list about life (which included some things about work), I felt it was important to create a list of things that could be helpful in my consulting work - not just for me, but for clients and the collaboration and their desired change.
Intentions or propositions I believe to be true.
It’s hard to put your beliefs out there, for a few different reasons. One perhaps being, “But what if I change my mind?” or dare to be rejected because of them.
There are timeless things, and as life and business lessons accumulate through experience, our lists grow and sometimes our minds change - based on new evidence or understanding.
When that time comes, we can just re-write them or tell a new story!
My website describing the work I aim to do is on its 2.0 issue. And after revisiting and having a pretty dynamic summer coupled with some reflection, I am close to making my 3.0.
But in the mean time, here and now, here’s what I am working with!
Embrace the Root Cause
Consider the context and system of what your observable challenge is in. Take the time to explore things at depth. It doesn’t mean you have to stay there long.
Narrative Rules
The corporate story is not just shaped by leadership and brand legacy, but also by the individual mindsets, attitudes, and simple stories shared throughout the organization and with its customers.
Acknowledge Trends
Relating to the zeitgeist is important, but over investing or obsessing on latest trends or hype cycles has a downside. Work with these things but remain mindful of the other structures, forces, and incentives influencing behaviours.
Quality Thinking Matters
Encourage reframing and incorporating diverse perspectives to enhance our ability to navigate through decisions in a flexible, yet, confident way.
Balance Order / Chaos
Do the work needed to sustain periods of volatility and uncertainty thoughtfully and to make decisions from a place of strength and optimism, not fear.
Embrace Unconventional
What do to do when the conventional doesn’t work? Foster openness to counter-intuitive approaches that unlock rigid structures and patterns. Sometimes a new playbook is called for.
Curate Intellectual Capacity
Curate spaces for discourse, inviting thoughts, creating an environment where people can share their ambitions and curiosity with others.
Compounding Investment
In the stories, jobs-to-be-done and actions where you show up for your self, each other and customer over time.
