Not all organizational change requires swift action. In fact, most doesn’t. And to apply it would be wrong.

Instead, it’s better to think of organizational change like orthodontia.

Sometimes the teeth need a lot of help. But it’s the rare case where the orthodontist or oral surgeon has to break the jaw and plate the bones.

Instead, orthodontia is a game of constant, steady pressure over time. Patience.

Come back for regular adjustments. Soon you’ll have the braces removed and a perfect smile underneath.

(Then you have to retain that result nightly for the rest of your life.)

When you begin of course, the future state seems too far off to ever be a reality.

There are cases where an organization needs swift action (e.g. a concise termination).

In most cases though, organizational change requires patient, steady pressure.

Have a nasty habit of oral tradition or Slack essays to share knowledge?

Nudge the team to document their knowledge in the wiki.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The team is going to grow by 3x in 12 months. You won’t want to explain every one of these concepts 25 times.

Slowly. Very slowly. It starts to click into place.

One day a new employee has a question. And someone replies to that question with a wiki link. A link that contains the answer. An answer that would have been rehashed in Slack. Now that person knows knowledge transfers here through the wiki not oral tradition.

😁 Smile.