When it’s ajar, of course.
OK, English language puns aside how you interpret or value things may simply be a matter of perspective.
I often find I’m inspired to write a blog post when I realise that a response on LinkedIn is beginning to get away from me. That is to say I find that I’ve drafted my third of four paragraph when it occurs to me that I really should blog it instead.
Perspectives may be as unique as they are personal. They can be highly variable, mutable & those belonging to another may – in the first instance – appear unfathomable.
She writes:
“It got me thinking – how often do we dismiss something without being open to seeing it from a different perspective?“
In the comments to her post one helpful chap, a UX Architect, Legal Designer & UX Researcher called Peter Hornsby made reference to the concept of ‘Chestertons fence’.
This is the notion, coined by the 20th century writer G.K. Chesterton, that you shouldn’t take down a fence unless you really understand why someone else put it there in the first place.
I’m no stranger to the late Mr. Chesteron’s fence analogy, but I do like to see people share their knowledge & information to help others place things into context.
I have both a personal & a professional interest in how people, information and organisations come together, interact & make things happen. I find these interesting and I hope that, out there, many of you do as well.
It took me the first ten years of my professional career to learn to embrace organisational & systemic change. Just when I thought I was on top of things & knew how it all worked guess what? Reality strikes and we’re off to the races again…
Disruption, uncertainty & angst… oh my!
These days I far more readily embrace change, but it has to be for the better. If I’m going to help support you then I am most definitely going to want to know (a) what does your better look like & (b) what are your underlying reasons that drive this change?
I’m not a mind reader and I can’t help others unless I understand their perspective.
Reasons for organisational or systems change must be understood, assessed and clearly & carefully articulated. Stakeholders want & need to understand the reasons for change (and the resulting benefits) and the burden is on those who instigate it. Your stakeholders deserve nothing less.
Clumsy or ineffective change can lead not only to unforseeen consequences, but to more readily predictable ones:
- Loss of trust and confidence in leadership
- Poor morale
- Workforce attrition
- Measurable rimpacts on efficiency, productivity & the bottom line
Management of Change (or ‘MOC’) is not a new concept, but it might be new to some. We learn about things for the first time throughout our lives & careers after all!
If you care about how you or your business is perceived take the time to understand things.
This goes for your informational process inputs & outputs as much as anything else.
Remember Chesterton’s fence… someone built it for a reason.
