600 words (7 minutes reading time) by Lancing Farrell

Have you ever had that eureka moment where something you were trying to understand is suddenly made crystal clear to you? That’s exactly what happened to me after reading David McRaney’s thought-provoking book, ‘How Minds Change – The New Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion.’ This enlightening read gave me reason to revisit some past posts on improving local government performance. In reading the book (and this is deliberate by the author) I was led through Piaget’s stages of assimilation and accommodation, before eventually reaching a Kuhnian paradigm shift. My epiphany was realising why organisational change is so hard.

When I looked back at my earlier posts, I realised that my growth as a leader commenced when I first saw work as a system. At the same time, I genuinely believed that I needed to become the architect of better approaches. I had an academic background, experience of travelling overseas to broaden my outlook, and a relentless passion for my work. I thought that if anyone could revolutionise services, it would be me.

However, this view eventually transformed into a more holistic and community-oriented perspective as I started to see the work as a ‘frog’ system, not a ‘bike’ system. You’ll need to read my previous posts to grasp the analogy, but in essence, I transitioned from a thinking I needed to be a one-man show and lead others by giving them better ways, to a more participatory approach where everyone is engaged in finding improvements.

Continue reading →