Be inspired by change

23 Oct, 2016 - 04:10 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Milton Kamwendo: Hunt for Greatness
The history of humanity, organisations, communities and individuals can all be summed up in a few words: change comes, change happens and change affects people differently. Be inspired by change and not be paralysed by it. Nothing and no-one stands still on this conveyor belt of life. You are either improving, growing or dying. Not all change is improvement, but without change there can be no improvement.
Some changes are noticeable, while others are subtle. The call of change is to fix, prune, build or create.

Every crisis is always a call to change. Until change becomes urgent, it is always easy to tolerate the present. A crisis is always such a terrible thing to waste. Use it or lose it.

Maintenance
When faced with the prospect of change, always ask: “What do I need to fix or prune?”
You have the responsibility to celebrate the things that are working. Not all things are broken, and complaining that everything is not working does not make everything work.

You do not need to wait for things to break down before you think of maintenance.
Maintenance allows you to focus your change efforts, fix what is worn out and prune what is overgrown. Pruning allows you to give vital growth a better chance and room.

In the quest for growth, the temptation is to acquire so many things, including excess baggage. Some product lines, processes and trimmings need to be pruned.
Pruning allows you to restore focus. Focus on the vital few issues that give you leverage.

Overhaul
Keeping what no longer works will not make it work.
Persistence is an important quality but not all the time. Persisting with what does not work or is dead will not create a resurrection miracle.
When you find that you are riding a dead donkey, the best strategy is to dismount. Things that are no longer working need a complete overhaul and change. Sometimes a complete reconstruction is more critical than just cosmetic motions of change.

You may have heard the story of the dead horse.
The American-Indian Dakota tribes passed on from generation to generation this wisdom: “When you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.”

However, it is always easy to go against this wisdom in preference for other strategies.
Let’s explore the possibilities. Sometimes you may not even be aware that you are riding a dead horse and you curse critics. Evaluate the criticism you get, it may have gems of wisdom.

Strategies that are sometimes employed instead of the wisdom of change include:
Buying a stronger whip: Whipping the dead horse more often and harder will make you feel you are achieving something. However, your effort is a waste of time. Misdirected effort is not miracle-working. Whipping harder a dead-horse will not make it move faster.
Changing riders: Changing riders may appear logical and helps to cast wide the talent search effort. New riders of dead horses will invest zeal and effort but risk also being changed. Changing the environment around an issue will not change the issue. Unless you are willing to address the core issues, changing personalities is just a game of musical chairs.

Declaring “This is the way have always ridden the horse”: I am a proponent of affirmations. These are short positive statements that you say to yourself often to reprogram your own thinking. I am also a firm believer in making declarations because your words are powerful and creative. I also love history and best practices.

However, keeping on doing what you have always done will result in you getting less than what you have always got. It has to be so according to the law of diminishing returns.

Do not use history or culture to insulate you from necessary change.
Appointing a team to revive the dead horse or a committee to study the dead horse: Sometimes organisations and projects are killed by committees.

This is this is called death by “death by committee”.
Appointing a team to revive and ride a dead horse could be a charismatic option. Teams appointed with a misplaced mandate are a time and resource waster. Efforts to revive what is dead and needing burial is an exercise in futility. Teams without purpose are futile brigades.
Ignoring the dead horse: Ignoring the dead horse will not make it go away. When an issue that should be addressed is not addressed that does not make the issue go away. This is sometimes called the Ostrich Mindset. An ostrich sometimes buries its head in the sand and forgets that its body is still visibly naked. Ignoring an issue that is self-evident to everyone does not cure the issue. It just prolongs self-deception. It is bad to be deceived by other people, however to be self-deceived is worse.

Training session to improve riding skills: Training and capacity building are important and necessary if well placed. However, developing skills when you should be overhauling and reconstructing is an exercise in futility. Training for training’s sake is a waste. Training should not just be a hobby, it must have a purpose and be tied to strategic outcomes. Training the dead horse or the riders of dead-horses does not make horse-sense.

Outsourcing contractors to ride the dead horse: Indeed, at times you have to look out of your organisation. Explore ways to cut costs or bring in new expertise. However, rearranging chairs in a sinking boat will not make it float. Focus on fundamental issues and see the proverbial elephant in the room.
Arranging a strategy session: A number of organizations frequently have sessions to review their strategies. At times it is helpful to bring in an external facilitator to help raise questions that allow the organization to self-introspect. An effective strategy session is more than just a marathon of power-point presentations with interludes of commentary. Such sessions are sometimes sterile and perpetuate the riding of dead horses.

Arranging a visit to other sites to see how they ride horses: Business travel should be more than just a hobby. Learning visits that doe not have a clear purpose are a waste of resources. Avoiding reality through misplaced studies will not result in any net-gain. Academic pursuits should never be a proxy for real problem solving.

Harnessing several dead horses for increased speed: There is power in numbers and teamwork. However harnessing dead-horses together just results in a more complex situation of death. Teamwork without vision does not get anywhere. Teamwork is not the same as parroting.
Milton Kamwendo is an international transformational and inspirational speaker, author and coach. He is a strategy, innovation, team-building and leadership facilitator whose life purpose is to inspire people to be great. Feedback: [email protected], Twitter @MiltonKamwendo and WhatsApp +263772422634. Full article available on Sunday Mail Website: www.sundaymail.co.zw

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