I was having lunch last week with my good friend Sean.** We get together on a semi-regular basis to shoot the breeze about our latest projects and to catch up on family life, etc. When the check came, we each pulled out our wallets to pay and I thought for a brief moment that Sean had mistakenly packed a small concrete brick in his pocket by mistake. It turns out I was wrong - it was, in fact, his wallet.
Sean explained to me that, in spite of the fact that he doesn’t really need everything that’s in his wallet everyday, he can’t remove any items from it or they will all fall out. The wallet has now stretched to accommodate the number of credit and membership cards currently contained within. If one goes, they all go.
As we discussed this, the subject turned to organizations. I think that we’ve all probably experienced this phenomenon within our teams at one time or another. Objectives lead to systems, systems lead to derivations of systems, we hire around those derivations, and eventually we have a giant, complex, clunky organization set-up to accomplish various derivations of the “main thing.” This is necessary, of course, but at some point the focus can shift from being organized around an objective to being organized for the sake of organization. This is when “why” and “what” cease to line up and when dissonance can creep into our teams. The organization has stretched to accommodate the systems - if we remove even one, they all fall down. The goal, it seems, has become to perpetuate the system.
The same dynamic can emerge in our personal creating. We can obligate ourselves to the point that there is no joy in our creating. We are simply doing it to fulfill some mandate we’ve placed on ourselves, but there is no longer an inherent intrinsic motivation. It’s all flat. We’re doing it simply to remind ourselves that we can - to make sure the pipes aren’t frozen.
Leaders need to be constantly scanning the horizon for the emergence of this kind of dissonance. We need to make certain that the “why” and the “what” line up and that our systems are in-line with both. (Of course, the “why” is often the sticking point, no?) Artists need to ensure that we are not creating complex and unnecessary systems that are “stretching the wallet.” Beginning with simplicity (”what are we really trying to do now?“) facilitates complexity, but beginning with complexity all but ensures confusion. There are more places for the system to break down.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this… feel free to add pics of your wallet or purse…
(** Cruelty free assurance: No friendships were harmed in the writing of this post. In fact, it was Sean’s idea…)
It takes intentionality to engage with creative projects on our own time - they don’t just make themselves. In this episode, we talk about some disciplines that can help us creatively engage and get moving on our “pet” projects.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I’ve often experienced this… especially in companies where we ramp up for business, but then things dry up for a season. It’s no fun when everyone is scrambling for work to jusitfy their existence. That becomes the focus instead of what the company’s in business for.
May 27th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
No pics…but I do know a good chiropractor if Sean needs one…
May 27th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
This is a great reminder. I let systems slip into my life, and they become habits long after they serve a purpose.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I really like your metaphor–the outstretched wallet–for bloated organizations and for systems-built-on-systems.
(I’m gonna switch metaphors now.) Right now, my little-fish employer was swallowed up by a big-fish company, so we are now using a big-fish system. But it is extremely (!) clunky and inefficient. So we use up hours doing manual inputting and checking (and rechecking) and less of what we were all hired to do. Why is the little fish using a system that isn’t efficient? Because the big fish thinks if all the little fishes it eats uses the same system that the big fish uses (which is old technology), then it’ll be easier to consolidate reports.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Finally…my Wallet is getting the attention it deserves
June 5th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Host: “Tom Brady, you’ve just won the Super Bowl. Now what are you going to do?”
Tom: “I’m going to see Sean’s wallet!”
That is the day, my friend, that your wallet truly gets what it deserves.
June 12th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
It is true that we often create systems that become clunky & bloated, but the false sense of security the give us … priceless.