I ask this question suspending judgment on what should be the best outcome of the US government standoff and shutdown. I like to observe politics (and sports actually) in order to raise parallel questions on how business works (or doesn’t work) in similar context.
Often we fence ourselves into impossible positions, with our identity so attached to a process, faction or decision that it can seem like letting go of it would be a step towards total defeat. We become unmovable, even in the face of someone else unmovable.
It is also one of the big things that can contribute to transformational change not getting traction. Even when not embracing change is actually something that does take us a step toward a failure in business.
To me there are a few key words in my observation: “identity” and “seem”. Sometimes we have to actually transform ourselves before we can transform our businesses. Disrupt ourselves. Other times, we have to challenge what seems to be the eventual outcome, re-frame and look for other paths to different outcomes.
So I ask, what are your Walls? Are there positions in your current work that you just can’t let go of? Do you know why? Are they really that fixed?
