In our lives and in our businesses, we hope to feel confident that we’re moving forward, that we’re on track. But what is at the end of this track? How do we know this is the right one for the destination we desire? What if it’s not?
Disruptive Thinking
The railroad track analogy is often an accurate description of our business decisions day in and day out. We have goals, and we feel that we will reach them if we just keep moving down this track. Sometimes this is actually true. That said, real innovations and progress are often the result of disruptive thinking, of asking the “what if” questions that might mean stopping outright, or stepping off the track to take another route. Are we ready to do that? Can we apply “creative discontent” to ask how things might be better, how problems might be identified and addressed, whether the track we’re on is the one that will get us where we want to go?
Rethink the Alternatives
Critically examining our organizations and our processes, and whether we are serving our clients or patients in the best possible way is difficult. It involves a degree of self-knowledge and a healthy amount of honesty, and it will sometimes require that we disregard our own traditions in order to address properly the problems we uncover. All of this is easier said than done, and is seldom painless.
So ask yourself, “Am I on (the right) track?”