Experts Agree! Leading Change (Simply) is Key to Success
Posted by Todd VanNest on Tue, Feb 14, 2012
As a tip ‘o the cap to Seth Godin, whose thoughtful, but concise style I struggle to emulate in my own blog posts, this post will be record-setting in its brevity here at LWOC! Read on…
In a very interesting blog post titled, “The Waffle Paradox,” (yes I too have been known to catch up on email and twitter over breakfast…) marketing guru Seth Godin says, that there are two views of the world: simple and complicated…and that in some contexts both are right. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/01/the-waffle-paradox.html. He posits that our goals (or directional guidance points) must be simple (driving personal and organization focus; making ourselves or our brand easy for others to attach themselves to…). He notes, however, that the pursuit of these goals (i.e., how I achieve Olympic-class status as a downhill skier or how my brand comes to dominate the market) must necessarily be complex.
Having spent years exploring breakthrough change leadership and the role of simplicity (and the risk of over-complication), I suggest expanding Godin’s prescription for success:
Simple Goal - Complex Plans – Simple at Point of Service
In this way, complexity is not translated to the level where change (fulfilling a new service proposition, delivering new practices as part of an organizational change) is actually adopted. Too much of our guidance as a community of strategists and change leaders pushes the complexity of our models down to others, only reinforcing change as something “done to them.” Thoughts?
Read more about how I came to learn this in a struggling change initiative!
http://www.lastwordonchange.com/about-lwoc/case-study
