Big Transformative Change

"In order to change an existing paradigm you do not struggle to try and change the problematic model. You create a new model and make the old one obsolete."— Richard Buckminster FullerBucky Fuller knew about "big transformative change" and made it happen.  There is a key quality to leading this level of change -- courage -- and perhaps hubris (without the presumption of ruin).  Whatever the quality is, it allows you to make a leap of faith that where you're going is so much better than where you are now, you just go and you don't look back.This kind of change can be exhilarating, exciting, invigorating, personally challenging, and at the same time exhausting!  A huge factor in whether or not this can be successful at an organizational level is the culture of the company.Does your company allow for experimentation -- are new ideas welcomed and is there a culture of innovation?  Does the leadership in the organization pay attention to any idea that is brought to them?  Is there a known way to bring ideas forward, that is open and available to anyone in the organization?  Is the leadership willing to take a risk and pursue an idea that might make them personally uncomfortable, but that they believe will ultimately be the right thing for the organization?If that isn't your current world, then to do any level of transformative change you really need to transform your company's culture into one where innovation is the norm -- a transformative change effort in itself.  If this is the current world of your organization, then you are very lucky and you should appreciate the great qualities of where you are!

Scholtes on Leadership

Seth Godin - No Excuses