Brave New Work: Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Organization?

by Aaron Dignan

Start Small Inside large organizations, moving the needle requires big moves—big programs, big campaigns, and big acquisitions. As a result, many leaders dismiss small moves as inconsequential. Projects and programs often end up with overly ambitious goals and time lines. Big wins delivered in the short term. Could anything be more challenging? Almost every idea for a new product, new process, or new tool is met with the same question: “How will that work at scale?” As if we were going to go from zero to one hundred on it. As if it were binary. And if it does seem promising at scale, then we default to a scaled implementation. Massive funding. Umpteen approvals. Project managers. Rollout plan. And on and on. In a simpler world, that might make sense. But in a complex world, things can change rapidly and unexpectedly. Focusing exclusively on scale slows us down, creates risk, and eliminates possibilities. The simple metaphor is a two-hundred-pound stone versus two hundred one-pound stones. Which is easier to move? Which is riskier to move? Which one can best leverage many hands? Instead, start small. Involve fewer people. Change one part of a process rather than the whole thing, or change it for one group but not another. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to scale something that has been validated and improved by the people who have to use it every day. When your team is taking smaller bites, there’s a feeling of momentum, and the electricity of that is palpable. Other tea...