Eliminating roadblocks
Roadblocks can be a serious killer of your future.
People usually come away from a strategy workshop, where they have been thinking exciting thoughts about the future, feeling energised and full of optimism.
A lot of that positive energy however disappears when it comes to putting hard plans in place as to how this 'magical, fictional, future state of affairs' is to be physically created.
Then suddenly - all sorts of excuses and problems and reasons as to 'why-not' come creeping out of the woodwork.
There are lots of reasons as to why this kind of resistance occurs, much of it related to our reluctance to let go of the status quo. Mentally we are primed to stay where we are.
On the other hand, there also may be significant barriers preventing an organisation, and its people, from moving forward.
As much as a new strategy demands that fresh plans are added onto everyone's plate, the existing barriers that are already firmly in place literally prevent any kind of forward momentum from happening; and kill whatever future plans are presented before the ink has even dried on the page that they are written on.
One of the most effect solutions to this problem, is to first spend some time identifying and actively eliminating the obvious, and not-so-obvious, roadblocks that are in the way of the future.
The adage is 'to first clear the path, before you start to build the better car that's going to drive on it.'
Find out where energy is being drained, money is being wasted, time is being lost and work is being done on things that have little relevance or impact on where you are trying to go.
Measure what kind of output you are getting from what is being put in, and hunt down the blockages that are preventing better results. Make it your mission to spot places where years of well-intended work and activity have created bottlenecks and fiction.
Most organisations are geared to doing things right, but very few take the time to ensure that they are doing the right things.
Roadblocks can be a serious killer of your future.
Find them, discard them.