Like a Sponge by Nathan Howells

Author:Nathan Howells
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brown Dog Books

14

Making an Impact – Think Simply but Differently

In the past few years I have read some very diverse and fascinating books, but now and again some quirky things stand out. Let’s take, for example, Beyond Measure by Margaret Heffernan. It is all about organisational culture whereby big differences comprise small actions, habits and choices. This book resonated in many areas of my life and the takeaways I took are noted below. If you are like me, finding time to read everything you come across is almost impossible. I am not suggesting you skip reading books but with such busy lives, there isn’t enough time, or for us to hold concentration or have enough cash to buy them all.

Not only does the book focus on business, I also took many thoughts for my personal relationships with Harry and Jack. As they grow older – Harry has just turned eleven, and Jack seven – our family dynamics are constantly changing and evolving.

So, the hardest thing about cultural change is to manoeuvre a lot of people. With such a high rate of failure, 70% in fact, the odds are against any cultural programme, so why bother? Well, the results. A great way is to break it into small changes. You must also have patience and a community approach, to go out and listen, ask questions – not just the easy ones – share information, and the cultural alterations will be beyond measure.

Cultural enhancement can’t depend upon early adopters but need the vast collective intelligence of every single person, supply chain, customer and community. Information cannot be cherished or held close to the chest; instead, sharing insights provokes inspiration in others.

In most large organisations, rules and routines are essential to avoid chaos. This, however, constrains thinking and depletes initiatives. This not only suppresses great ideas, but also prevents people warning others about problems.

Cultural enhancements can only get fixed by everyone and there are a number of interesting questions. A key question is: What do I have to offer that no one else can bring? As that is what you are there for. Then there are some other questions:

Who needs to benefit from our decision? How?

What else would we need to know to be more confident of this decision?

Who are the people affected by this decision? Who has the least power to influence it?

How much of this decision must we make today?

Why is this important? And what’s important about that?

If we had infinite resources (time, money, people), what would we do?

What would we do if we had none?

What are all the reasons why this is the right decision? What are all the reasons why it is the wrong decision?

How do we ensure that the right debates happen? A suggested rule of thumb is to ask three questions for every statement you make to keep the conversation open.

Interestingly, 30% of cultural change programmes do succeed, but what did they do differently? There must have been a huge number of mistakes. Is it down to the reality

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