You Can Wreck the Project by Following the Rules
April 27th, 2004 by HalSeth Godin writes a monthly column in Fast Company where he rails against our attachment to our common sense. There are too many favorite Seth Godin FC essays for me to mention here. Now I have a 'new favorite'. It appears in his new book Free Prize Inside.
The book is about going all the way to the edge as the place from which to innovate. The edge is a free prize. Not just another feature. Rather, working at the edge we have the opportunity for creating something remarkable. Seth calls it edgecrafting.
The 'new favorite' essay appears on pages 46 and 47 of the book titled You Can Wreck the Factory Where You Work by Following the Rules. The same can be said for projects. Here are some highlights:
We've fooled ourselves into thinking that white collar work is supposed to be as repetitive and rule-based as running a punch press. So we often fight the innovations in our midst.
Why do we see this as acceptable? Rather than asking, "What will it take for this to be successful?" we encounter sabotage, foot-dragging, and inaction. For me the worst is the attitude "Let's see if this will work."
We've embraced the upside of Henry Ford's bargain (getting paid a lot for work someone else could do), but since change has become the essential output of our work, we've abandoned our half of the deal. Idea workers get paid to change the rules.
Your job is to make something happen.
Don't put up with people who are not intent on making something happen, particularly when that someone is you.
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April 28th, 2004 at 3:52 pm
That’s for the heads up about Seth. He has some great articles.