05 January 17

Trigger Challenge: a series of Quotes – use as you wish

The earth has music for those who listen. Shakespeare

Fill your paper with the breathings of your art. w. Wordsworth

It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. JK Rowling

Before you can think out of the box, you have to start with a box. Twyla Tharp

Creativity is intelligence having fun. A. Einstein

Think Inside the Box

I never understood this whole big deal of thinking outside the box. As if the only way you can be insightful is to stand back and be independent of what goes on inside the box. That’s impossible unless you are a paid consultant, and even then all they do is prescribe bromides that are repeated as mantra’s to every client, no matter the problem.

“You need to maximize the potential of your skill sets in order to achieve optimal outcomes in a customer focused delivery of your mission.” Translated into everyday language that means, “Everybody has to work harder.”

“Optimize your mainstream processes to eliminate pinch points that slow the production of your implementation strategy.” Meaning, “make it work better”. Now that is really cost effective advice…for the consultant. He gets paid anyway.

We are a values based organization dedicated to producing mainstream applications in a time sensitive manner for our client stakeholders. Meaning, “Our values are to get it out as fast as we can to make as much money as we can so the boss can get a big bonus.”

What really happens is that people inside the box are stuck there. There are bosses and admin people and finance people and rules and plans and products and techies and now Talent Potential Directors (they used to be called Personnel who then became Human Resource Directors).

All those people are supposed to support the people who actually are responsible for doing the things that are sent along to marketing and sales people. The box is full of people all doing their thing which is actually unaffiliated with what actually produces income for the organization.

It is a wonder anything gets done with hierarchies and fiefdoms and constraints and regulations and internal politics and processes. No wonder people want to think outside the box, it’s crazy there inside. But there you are somewhere, putting in your time and trying your best despite it all.

Used to be, putting in your time was all that was required. Well that and making sure the Boss did not see you leave the building before he did. It was all image in one sense. You had to think inside the box. Who was important to gain approval for what you wanted to get done? Who were the people who actually could produce something you needed? How did you manage to get budget allocated to the things you wanted to do whether those were part of the Strategic Plan or not. Flying under the radar was the order of the day for most.

There were always the fair haired boys (mostly always men) who seemed to always fail upwards no matter how badly they botched things. The higher they rose, the less they actually did. It was the choice of these men who looked the part, far more than their ability, that showed what really mattered inside the box. Then they were in management and therefore not actually accountable for doing anything. Doing stuff was the responsibility of staff. These young executives became old executives as time passed and avoiding change and responsibility was their primary raison d’etre. But things changed in the corporate world. Long term stability and incremental growth was no longer acceptable to the investor stakeholders. Competition began to steal customers and markets. The face of the workforce began to change as women and those who’s hair was not so fair began to push against the steel floor erected below the executive suites. Something had to be done. Right, call in a consultant to look at us from outside our box.

In my opinion, it is ridiculous to try and think outside the box. You are in it and know if far better than someone who interviews you for an hour along with a the fair haired boys and a few other people to glean a representative sample of problems and grievances that keep creativity from flourishing. How can you have fun and be creative if you are caught on the rat wheel of daily routine?

All this is by way of saying, I loved being a “consultant”. Where else can you get paid for pontificating about how other people ought to do things… well unless you are the actual Pope. You walk in, ask for documents, do interviews, conduct surveys, provide benchmarks that you have stolen from other “similar” organizations and lay out a list of “change strategies” to create a “reorganized organization”. It creates a flurry of activity which, if you are really good at your consulting relation with the boss, will likely pay for a continuing contract to advise on the implementation. To paraphrase Shakespeare, “The earth has money, for those who listen”.

And then what happens. The reorganization will run its course which means people are required to reapply for their own jobs, many of whom find the position officially eliminated. Those who are deemed capable of being “change agents” for the reorg will stay. Those who have done the work for a long time or who have not covered their own assets within the box, will likely go.

And now we have a reborn, rededicated, forward focused, mission accountable, values based organization. But the old work still has to be done and now many of the people who knew how to do it are no longer there. All this churn can last several years. By this time, the Boss has shown he has a leaner, certainly meaner, more cost effective organization which produces more money to the bottom line and his bonus. Translation: cutting staff saves money whether your income grows or not. He is then poached by a competitor organization opening the door to a new boss who has to “put his stamp on the organization”. Ahh, time to hire another consultant.