Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Jeremy Smelser, Academic Technology Support Manager, Indiana University, and a MOR program alum. Jeremy may be reached at [email protected] or via LinkedIn.
After you’ve done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully. After five years, look at it with suspicion. And after ten years, throw it away and start all over. – Alfred E. Perlman
The above quote has long been one of my favorites. It underscores the importance of regularly reassessing, questioning, and potentially overhauling established practices to ensure they remain effective and relevant. This is something that Perlman knew well. He became President of the New York Central Railroad in 1954 and led the railroad through a time of significant change. A proud company, the Central was steeped in tradition and had once been one of the largest and most powerful companies in the United States. However, by the 1950s, it had become a shadow of its former self. It faced ever-increasing air, automobile, sea, and truck competition, a declining industrial customer base, and a passenger service bleeding red ink. The Central was struggling to stay solvent. Perlman was brought on board and tasked with modernizing the railroad’s operations, reorganizing its personnel to better face its competition, and returning it to profitability. He could never return the railroad’s profitability due mainly to circumstances outside his control. Still, he did stabilize it by modernizing operations and establishing an organizational culture that embraced innovation and change.
I admire Perlman’s approach and have tried to embrace the concept of regularly reassessing and potentially overhauling practices in my personal and professional life. However, I often found that when making changes based on reassessment, I faced significant pushback from others. This frequently confounded me. That is, until we studied John Van Maanen’s three lenses on organizational change (strategic design, political, and cultural) at MOR. I realized that as a leader, I had been missing a key piece of the equation. I had only been looking at change through the strategic lenses and not considering the other two. Now, when reading Perlman’s quote, I see embracing change in leadership from a broader perspective:
Embracing Change in Leadership From A Strategic Perspective
This lens views organizations as rational systems designed for optimal performance through planning and structure. Perlman’s advice to “look it over carefully” after two years resonates with this perspective’s emphasis on continuous evaluation and alignment with environmental opportunities and threats. Regular reassessment helps ensure that strategic plans remain effective and adaptable.
The Political Perspective
This lens sees organizations as arenas of power struggles where action comes through power rather than planning. Perlman’s idea to “look at it with suspicion” after five years reflects this perspective’s recognition of the dynamic nature of power and influence within organizations. Over time, power structures within an organization shift, making it necessary to periodically review its strategies and actions to ensure they remain aligned with its goals and stakeholder interests.
The Importance of Culture Change
This lens views organizations as symbolic systems driven by habits, traditions, and shared meanings. After ten years, Perlman advises to “throw it away and start all over.” This underscores this perspective’s understanding that deeply embedded habits and traditions may need to be fundamentally changed to adapt to new realities. Cultural change is often the most challenging but necessary for long-term organizational success.
By embracing change in leadership and integrating these perspectives into how I lead change, I can more effectively diagnose and address issues from multiple angles, anticipate and address resistance, and ensure that my team remains agile and responsive to change.
Which lens would you like to leverage more?
Last week, we asked what you need to do to have leadership priorities that focus on the Important.
- 49% said establish clear priorities.
- 18% said refine your delegation process.
- 17% said take command of your calendar.
- 11% said become more decisive.
- 5% said become a more effective communicator.
One of the most critical things we can do as leaders both for ourselves and for our organizations is to focus on what is most important. There are too many ways to spend our time to do them all. We must focus on that which matters most. What is something you can do today to establish greater clarity on priorities both for you and for your team?