Looking Back to Move Ahead
What happens at the end of a project or a change process? Too often, the major players (team members and champions) have moved on to other initiatives and priorities by the time that a project comes to a close. This…
Making the Most of a Windfall!
Let's say that you have received an unexpected grant to your organization. It's a large sum of money - equivalent to your annual operating budget! And there are no strings attached to how you can use these funds. This unimaginable…
Get on the Ladder!
Gardening, like leading change, is hard work. If you’re not bending over to till the soil and remove stones, you're on your knees caring for seedlings or removing weeds. From this position, it's really easy to lose sight of…
Assessing your Stakeholders
We all have them. They are all around us. We are talking about... stakeholders! And if they will be impacted by your change initiative - for good or bad - then you need to take time to understand them! …
Lead Like a Gardener
What does growth in an organization look like? It isn’t unusual to imagine this as a never-ending upward trajectory, like a rocket fired into space. You quickly realize though, that this isn’t realistic or sustainable. Once the initial momentum fizzles…
Are you prepared for change?
Louis Pasteur, the French scientist, is best known for his breakthroughs on vaccination and on - well, pasteurization, the process of stopping the contamination of milk. 💬 He also famously said “In the field of observation, chance favors only…
Renewal, Innovation and the Sigmoid Curve
My recent posts have explored the theme of how organizations develop and, inevitably, decline. Almost all organizations end up closing their doors – some do this in a planned and graceful manner, some do it through managed mergers and acquisitions,…
Companies can expect to die – unless they innovate!
I commented in my last post about the ways in which organizations are like living systems, and how it can be helpful to anticipate these natural of and change in our organizational life. However, I was taken by surprise by…