…But Your Kids are Going to Love it

Our role as change catalysts often involves introducing fresh thinking about how the nature of work is evolving and how people in organizations will need to evolve along with it. These ideas can sometimes feel radical to folks as we bump up against the comfort of the status quo and the gravitational pull of “this is how we’ve always done things.”

My recent coaching experience with a team provided a valuable lesson about pushing boundaries and facing resistance.

This team was asked to re-think how the organization should develop and grow its people given the new way of working emerging from their transformation efforts. This could include things like career progression, performance reviews and feedback, and rewards and recognition. 

The ideas emerging from the team, while well-researched and thought-out, were indeed radical and cutting edge in nature. Radical, but in line with what the organization needed to advance their change journey. 

When these ideas were introduced to others in the organization they were not exactly received with open arms. In fact, the responses ranged from being somewhat lukewarm to completely skeptical.

This reminded me of a scene in the “Back to the Future” movie when Marty McFly rips into a guitar solo the likes of which have never been heard before…at least for those in 1955. The stunned crowd stares in disbelief in what they just experienced. 

Marty’s reply is priceless. “You might not be ready for it…but your kids are going to love it.” 

When we introduce ideas into an organization, we may get the same blank stares of disbelief as Marty McFly did. Our words can sound like a foreign language. Our ideas like science fiction. Sometimes the current generation just might not understand. And it’s easy to get discouraged.

So our important lesson is this…while it might seem we are doing the work of change for the here and now, those who likely will appreciate it most will be future generations. 

If you’ve bumped up against the resistance of status quo or are being challenged to bring fresh thinking into your organization, here are a couple of thoughts to encourage you:

Understand the current state. Many organizations are in a constant state of reactionary fire-fighting so ANY thinking of the future will be out of the question.  In fact, fire-fighting and heroic efforts have become a badge of honor and rewarded for quite some time, shrinking the window of opportunity for fresh possibilities to be introduced. If this is your organization, the first step is to acknowledge that this is what you’re up against – then we go about the work of changing it. 

Start using visionary language. I personally challenge myself to use at least one sentence a day starting with the phrase “Imagine a world where…” For example,  “Imagine a world where we are functioning without stress, have space and time to think, and are no longer rewarded for how busy we are and who we know but for the positive impact we are having on the life’s of our customers.” Nobody believes me about being able to operate without stress by the way…but I keep saying it anyway. You should too.

Design space for futuristic thinking. As coaches, I must admit sometimes we feed into this dysfunction by own short-term thinking – such as jumping immediately into MVPs and getting something out the door as quick as possible in the name of being “agile.”  But we have the opportunity to design space to think about doing bigger things. It doesn’t take much.

For example, I have added specific exercises for the teams I work with to answer these questions:

• Hard trends. What is happening to us and around us?
• Soft trends. What might happen to us and around us?
• Macro trends. What could the world be like in 20 years? Or 30 years? 

Stay close to existing leaders. Old dogs can learn new tricks. Keep sending articles or blog posts with fresh ideas and stories of organizations working in “cutting-edge” ways. Get them involved in brainstorming sessions. Give them early drafts of ideas. Keep them involved.

Stay closer to the next generation. I am reminded of the Frederick Douglas quote,  “It is easier to build strong children than repair broken men.” We will obviously work with anyone in front of us – especially existing leaders. Those with the potential to be visionary leaders are the ones who should be getting promoted…not those who are working the hardest but making the lives around them miserable. We need to support them with vigor.

Keep pushing the boundaries and planting seeds. Stick with it. When our ideas are rejected our natural tendency is often to push away and not try again. But don’t give up. Keep planting new ideas.

It’s worth it. Our kids are going to love it (and thank us for it).