I maybe last 2-3 years in a job- and while that creates some tension on the ole homestead 😂 it keeps me on edge and fresh, professionally.
So as a result, I come to back this phrase a lot when I come into a new situation, often prompted by another senior leader thinking a complete overhaul of the existing org, people, processes, etc are needed. Rarely have I found that’s the case.
I mean, you got to this point, right? It couldn’t have been all dumb luck.
So I find this phrase (based on a 15th century German woodblock carving, naturally) very centering, and it allows me to look for the things that are working well, iterate around those strengths, and then toss the truly dirty bathwater.
That's a great example. The phrase itself is so gruesome if you actually think about it!
But I thought you might be going somewhere else with this. Having been on both sides of re-orgs myself, I can say that I've seen a tendency toward a mindset of "well, we need to get rid of this bathwater...maybe we'll lose a LITTLE baby on the way, but not too much" which is truly a wild way to think about it, and really missing the point.
“Throw the baby out with the bath water.”
I maybe last 2-3 years in a job- and while that creates some tension on the ole homestead 😂 it keeps me on edge and fresh, professionally.
So as a result, I come to back this phrase a lot when I come into a new situation, often prompted by another senior leader thinking a complete overhaul of the existing org, people, processes, etc are needed. Rarely have I found that’s the case.
I mean, you got to this point, right? It couldn’t have been all dumb luck.
So I find this phrase (based on a 15th century German woodblock carving, naturally) very centering, and it allows me to look for the things that are working well, iterate around those strengths, and then toss the truly dirty bathwater.
That's a great example. The phrase itself is so gruesome if you actually think about it!
But I thought you might be going somewhere else with this. Having been on both sides of re-orgs myself, I can say that I've seen a tendency toward a mindset of "well, we need to get rid of this bathwater...maybe we'll lose a LITTLE baby on the way, but not too much" which is truly a wild way to think about it, and really missing the point.