Message of the Day - How Some Organizations Die

Good Morning,

 

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My current read is Bil Holton’s “Leadership Lessons of Ulysses S. Grant: Tips, Tactics, and Strategies for Leaders and Managers” (http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Lessons-Ulysses-S-Grant/dp/051716180X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238882689&sr=1-1). I have been on this kick of reading the leadership styles and tips of various historical persons, like the US Presidents (George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln and George W. Bush). You learn a lot about their character in those books as well.

 

Anyway, early on in this book I saw a line that just rang out to me:

 

“The following warning is offered unapologetically and without reservation –

 

An organization is dead when its leadership acknowledged only convention.”

 

This is a profound statement. It is saying that a company or organization which only does what it always has done for whatever reason, even if it works, will eventually falter and die off. The world is changing around us and unless our organizations change with the times, we will go the way of the dinosaurs. And look at initial warning, it is offered unapologetically and without reservation. I believe it states that is a fact whether we like it or not.

 

When you hear people give excuses as to why we cannot change the rules or the way things are done that sound like “Well that is way we have always done it” it is time to picture that person as a pile of fossils being dug up and admired by some future organizational archaeologist.

 

I am blessed in my day job. My boss is willing to entertain new ideas from her team, while also ensuring the department stays focused on meeting and exceeding its targets and goals. This has created an environment where we can present out of the box thinking. This past week, one of my peers was able to take an epiphany he had on improving our service offering and present it at a leadership meeting. Where in many organizations new ideas are met with ‘no’ or ‘we tried that, it did not work’ and that is sad. Our team grabbed the idea and started looking at what COULD be done. It was like doing a SWOT analysis right there during the meeting (SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). My wish is that every organization could be so open-minded.

 

In our rapid paced, ever-changing landscape of business and life, we have people who come to the table ready to buck convention and try something new.

 

I look forward to the benefits of these new ideas and even the failures should they happen, so that we may learn from them and do something even better.

 

Remember, if the reason you are told no to a new idea is because it conflicts with the way it has always been done before, then go to the florist and buy flowers for the department’s or organization’s impending funeral.

 

Unless they embrace change, extinction will happen.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net   

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ß Click here to pre-order: “Learn And Grow Daily!”

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

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