I just finished my Block chapters for tomorrow’s class, and they’ve gotten me all worked up. I will never fall asleep tonight…
I was reading the chapters on engagement and implementation. I think Block makes a great point that the stages of implementation have gotten almost cliched. It does seem like the last few years have brought on an onslaught of mission and vision statements and motivational speeches from the owner and like, 500 new books on leadership, change management and the like. I can see the cartoon of the proud business CEO offering a motivational talk while the rest of the staff groans. It really does seem like consultants may simply be peddling the wares of the week, so to speak.
For me, this is distressing because I’m still new at this, and vision statements and all that still seem really useful to me as far as actual activities and implementation goes. I want to avoid doing what Block describes: prescribing this sort of generic recommendation that everyone gets that not only may not work, but may in fact work against the very thing you’re trying to do! I can even see it in my own thoughts with my consulting project- my first inclination is to assume some type of teambuilding activity (my background, of couse) would be helpful (although not a solution) and since taking ADLT 625 last semester, I’ve been all about processes like Future Search, AI, Open Space, etc. So, even as a novice I already have my “favorites’ in terms of things I’d like to see implemented. These chapters really helped me remember that perpetual recurring theme for me: slow down, take a good look, and see what’s really happening in order to find out what’s really needed. And, ask lots of questions.
