I have just been reading an address by Steve Jobs to Stanford University and was especially struck by this quote:
…you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
Perhaps the more academically inclined amongst us might call this ‘post-hoc rationalisation’
It’s certainly my experience that I can often string a convincing story together about what happened despite those happenings being unplanned. Now what I am about to say may well be blasphemous to those who worship at the altar of Change Management Theory (and I too have a Masters’ degree in the topic!) but in many years of leading change I do not think I have ever seen a successful change process follow any of these theories. Oh yes, in general it pays to create your Compelling Vision before your Guiding Coalition – and sometimes the other way round!
Shortly after finishing my Masters my then boss asked “What was the most significant thing you learned on the course?” My response seemed trite at the time, yet the more experience I gathered, the more significant it became. I was fortunate that I was leading the process facilitation team for a major organisational change effort whilst I was doing my Masters and my response was that “I have learned that practice is more important than theory and that in practice you have to do what you can, where you can, when you can”.
I once wrote a paper that described in wondefully rational terms how our long-term success (over a 10-15 year period) could be attributed to overlapping cycles of change, each starting before the full benefits of the previous cycle had been realised. It was pure post-hoc rationalisation – the paper implied some form of ‘master plan’ which never existed. We did what we could where we could when we could. We joined up the dots looking backwards.
So than you Steve Jobs for reminding me that all the theory is useful in the planning phase of change and also for reminding me of the reality that things rarely (ever?) go to plan so although the dots might well join up in retrospect, they are unlikely to make the picture that you thought you were making!
Yes but no but!
In terms of change management I totally agree. The most stark comment I heard was General Sir Mike Jackson talking about military ‘command and control’ thinking. He asserted that you could have all the planning you liked but it was the moment that you went into battle; that was the time it all changed. The importance for him was having people that were able to ‘do what you can, where you can, when you can’.
As to ‘dot joining’, this is a phrase I’ve used with a Cex I’ve been coaching. She is able to see patterns and links between people and projects, this is her stength, and it creates opportunity for her and her business. So I think there are those that can see the dots ahead of them and their skill is in joining them.