Tag: team work

Revolution and evolution

FabrizioLeave a comment

Change can happen through revolution or evolution.

Revolution is when things turn around abruptly. It is usually a sudden change, one that is often associated with extreme measures. It creates fracture and discontinuity. The origin of the word is Latin – revolvere, literally “roll back”, “revolve”. Despite the current accepted meaning, therefore, it does not delineate a move or a push forward, a progression.

Evolution, on the other hand, is a slow and ongoing process. It is change, but over a considerable amount of time. So much so that one could possibly identify the different stages and find some kind of continuity. It also comes from a Latin word – evolvere, literally “unrolling”, “opening a scroll”, “revealing”. In its most profound sense, therefore, it does portray a discovery, and only later on it got associated with development and betterment.

Both are needed in certain situations.

Think of a company that has been badly administered for years, and is now on the verge of bankruptcy. The newly appointed CEO will most likely want a revolution in the way of doing things, a sudden change that could turn around and save the business.

On the other hand, if a company is not achieving the expected results with their marketing campaigns, it is auspicable that the new CMO would like to proceed by evolution, slowly bringing tactics in alignment with strategy.

The next time we see that something is not working around us, it is important we consider whether what is needed is a revolution or an evolution. The latter will work in most of the circumstances. Despite our sense of urgency and often misplaced understanding of what is important.

And often, when choosing it, we start building consensus and gathering appreciation, that also helps us “discover” in which direction we want to take the change.

Help and resistance

Fabrizio11 Comments

Resistance is a very interesting concept, one I knew I would talk about sooner or later. It is not mine, and it was very well developed by Steven Pressfield in his book The War of Art.

Resistance is a force that works against getting things done. It has different faces (rationalisation, fear, distraction, procrastination, self-criticism just to mention a few), but very generally speaking it is the story we tell ourselves to give us reasons not to do something we want to do.

If somebody offers their help, for example, in a generous and passionate way, the most rational part of us would say: “Thank you, I take it. Here is what you could do”.

But then resistance kicks in. And here is what it says. “They must be busy”, “Just offering their help to be kind”, “Don’t want to bother them”, “There’s no such thing like a free lunch”, “They don’t really care”, “I don’t have time to tell them what they are doing”, “This is not so important after all”, “I don’t even like them and their work”. And so on.

The point is, will you get what you wanted done or not? If the answer is no, be mindful of resistance. It’s the one talking, not you.

When your idea is not chosen

FabrizioLeave a comment

When another person’s idea prevails on your, and is chosen to be executed, there are three important things you can do.

Focus on the positive aspects and on the potential of the idea. No idea is completely good or bad, so the idea that was chosen does most likely have positive aspects. Understand them, ask the owner to explain them, and build the narrative of what is happening around them. “This is idea has the potential to achieve this” or “I like this idea, because if well executed could deliver that” is a much better option than “I was not the one proposing it and I think it is wrong”.

Be involved in the execution and deliver your best work. This is not about you, so leave your ego and all your regrets behind and be ready to help the best you can. People will remember your contribution, and even if they won’t, you will feel much better for having done something active and practical about it.

Keep your mind ready for the next round. Ideas are always needed, so there’s no need to tank if your idea is not chosen this time (or the next, or the one after the next). Try to perfect the ones you had if they are still on the table, or come up with new ones for a different situation. Make sure to understand if your presentation was somehow flawed, if you could have done anything better, write down ideas as they come and try to elaborate on them, and eventually your brain will be prepared for the next chance.