I have to comment on Seth Godin's 50:1 post today. It's all about the odds of losing your job because the organization can't keep doing business the way it is and still stay in business vs. losing your job because you try something new and edgy. Seems like the statistics favor you a lot more if you decide to be different in some meaningful way.
It hit home because of a recent executive coaching/consulting gig. The objective was to help boost the impact of his presentations to high-level constituencies (think Board of Directors, Shareholders, etc.). He agreed that what I showed him was much more engaging than his current method. But his perception of the system won out. He ultimately didn't do anything differently-- even with the knowledge that he was being intentionally helped by a paid coach for the specific purpose of increasing his effectiveness. I asked him:" Why the hesitation?" He simply thought that, because his colleagues and predecessors had had long careers doing things a certain way, it would be more beneficial to him not to change "too much."
We'll see.
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