April 26, 2011
Although the Compression Institute is breathing life, it’s not on a fast track. We humans cannot quickly revise the criteria by which we judge work organizations’ success. Every aspect of our lives is touched. Even the language of the past is misleading when used to describe where we need to go. Although progress is slow, we are trying to follow our own catch phrase, “Quality over Quantity, Always.”
Nearly everyone interested in Compression Thinking has an operational background. They do things, so they are interested in what to do and how to do it, not in pristine environmentalism or inflexible dogma. Most carry too many scars to be starry-eyed idealists but might be pragmatic idealists. Nonetheless the Compression Institute’s biggest challenge is not technical or even business process change; it is turning heads to desire great quality outcomes using far fewer resources.
Few of us relish leaving a comfort zone, whatever it is. Much of the Compression Institute’s early learning is how to codify Compression Thinking so that it is easier to for leaders to absorb. Obviously, no defined set of tools and no stepwise methods are sufficient to coach people to meet Compression challenges. If they must work out of old transactional mindsets, learning becomes emotional as well as intellectual.
Given all that, what’s the rough plan? It is to find or to influence some companies and other work organizations to become Compression Thinking pioneers – exemplars. Most of us pick up how-to much easier from others’ examples than from abstractions.
A few local Compression Thinking groups are in gestation. Right now we need a firmer grip what these groups require to be effective. Once that is clearer, the Compression Institute will promote development of facilitators, or guides, to create and sustain such groups. Our intent is to create substantive activity at the grass root level, bottom-up.
Public policy changes may be helpful, but they are mired in gridlock. Seeding grass roots is slow, but still faster than waiting for direction from the global regulatory morass.