If you see something that no one else sees you are either genius or crazy of some combination of the two. If what you see is so big that you can’t ignore it be prepared for a long journey through the process of change.
The two quotes by Arthur Schopenhauer summarize it best. The biggest takeaways from these are:
- If you are not absolutely committed to your vision for change then don’t even bother starting because your journey will be measured in years; possibly decades.
- Constant communication is a major key to success.
- Winning over a small band of truly talented people who can demonstrate early successes will move the process forward much faster. In the Diffusion of Innovations Model these would be considered the Innovators and Early Adopters. Focus your efforts here and demonstrate wins.
- If everyone on your team is 100% aligned around the changes you see then either you have a team of unicorns or you aren’t looking far enough ahead.
- Don’t expect any credit for the changes - remember that right after the ideas are violently opposed then everyone will come to the conclusion that the ideas were theirs the whole time.
