May 18, 2007
“the oh-fuck-it moment”
Adriana Lukas has a great post re. instigating change within a large organization:
In my experience, the people who become part of change I try to bring to companies have what I call an ‘oh fuck it’ moment. They have tried to use the approved processes, implement tools and generally do things by the book. They run against a wall and attitudes that firmly hold it in place. When they realise this — it’s time for ‘oh fuck it, I am going to do this anyway’. And that’s when we get really started.
Reminds me of Burroughs: “Death needs time for what it kills to grow in.”
The most successful things I’ve created/implemented and the things I’ve received the most accolades, respect, and rewards for are all things that nobody asked me to do, often nobody knew needed to be done, and I certainly didn’t follow any standard processes to accomplish. If I had they would never have happened.
We have a saying here at our paper “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”
A former VP of mine told me once
that he encourages everyone to have side projects
and become financially independent of the company.
That way, we can say do what we truly want to do
without worrying about the consequences.
And that’s when great things happen.
Inevitably, there appears to be a book about this (and it’s written by a former copywriter).
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/body_and_soul/article1807748.ece
I work at a company where you can’t scratch your arse without filling in an “R11748 — Arse scratching request” form.
Aint it great when accountants run the world.