“Beginnings are always messy.”— John Galsworthy
Changing the game for organizations attracts attention.
I am working with three different clients on three different initiatives. They are all unique and yet they have one big thing in common. They are all challenging the status quo of how things are done in a fundamental way. They are reaching for a higher bar of excellence.
Changing the game in these ways is garnering lots of attention. The leaders that I am working with in each situation have the same big three challenges.
The skeptics are being vocal. There are people who can see the flaws of the new ideas. They see big risks ahead and they want to talk about them.
More people than we have room for want to partake in the events. These are large organizations. Room in the events is limited. We only have so much capacity to have in-depth discussions with all those who will be leading the way.
It gets messy. Doing things in a new way looks much messier than the status quo. The status quo is well honed. It is very familiar. It often has a polish to it. The new way is a trailblazing exercise. Materials may look ugly in comparison.
What are we doing to address these challenges?
We are bringing in the skeptics as much as possible. They wouldn’t be so vocal if they didn’t care. They care. We are taking in their ideas and making our approach better.
We are bringing in the skeptics as much as possible. They wouldn’t be so vocal if they didn’t care. They care. We are taking in their ideas and making our approach better.
We are making as much room as we can. To those who don’t fit in the first wave of events, we don’t say no. We provide them alternative ways to participate. We want as many people moving this forward as possible.
We publicize the messiness. We are making it clear that this is not business as usual. The messiness is part of the attraction. Everyone sees the promise of the mess. They see how the currently visible mess can make the game we are changing so much better.
Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,
Alan Willett
