I’ve been doing a bunch of research for an updated talk on the “organization of the future” lately. One thing which stands out to me is how many people/organizations claim that they either have the magic potion to solve all your issues and/or present rather complex (management) systems to end all your woes and create unprecedented successes.
Over the years, having seen many organizations – large and small – jump onto the latest trend, I have come to believe that it’s mostly all BS.
As was stated on a slide I recently saw at the senior management meeting of a multi-national F500 company:
It is not complicated. It is just hard.
I believe this 100% to be true. For me, the solution to most, if not all, problems and challenges come down to a healthy dose of common sense and lots of hard work. Sadly in all my years doing this, I have yet to find a shortcut.
With that being said – read ferociously, learn from others – both from their successes but also their losses – and never forget to keep your head straight and realize that a map never is an accurate representation of the terrain.