Excellence University Journal

Increasing your organization’s “openness to experience and change”

by Dr. Brian Higley

April 2nd, 2007

Instead of thinking of themselves or their businesses as static, the more Fully Functioning leader sees him or herself (and their organization or team) as consistently changing.  Being “Built for Change” is something my collegue John Spence identifies as one of the major characteristics of a successful organization.  A collection of individuals built this way makes for a flexible and effective organization. 

Coach Mike Krzyzewski (“Sha-chef-ski”)of the consistently successful Duke Blue Devil college basketball program recently said that static goals (“win 25 games” or even “make 10 million dollars this year”) often turn into limitations for a team.  To avoid limiting an organization, goals must come from a consistently changing process/environment.  Of course, the fear of failure often decreases our openness to new experiences.  John Maxwell, in his outstanding book Failing Forward talks about how to overcome this block to an organization that is open to experience.

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Article Filed under: I. WATER (Team/Group Excellence)