In business there is a natural tendency to follow the plan/do model. Plans are made and employees are then expected to execute actions according to the plan. But there is also a middle stage where mistakes are made, approaches are re-evaluated and various learning and testing is taking place. According to the management-issues.com website, this stage is very important.
Middle stage of change
Leaders should recognise these intermediate stages as opportunities for growth and learning. Even if similar projects have been completed in the past, every large project is a unique cluster of new issues because, typically, new experts, project designers and stakeholders are involved. The mix is formed by new conditions and new possibilities. And who is excited by such a mix? Innovators.
Do not expect excellence at every step
That is not how things work. Steve Jobs did not get the idea of creating an iPad right away. His journey to this successful product was long and winding. And Jobs learned a lot during it: he saw plenty of errors and faced serious disagreement concerning the product's purpose. Being forced to leave Apple had to be depressing, right? But eventually he succeeded with his own paradigm, which now embraces a huge range of personal electronic devices.
Do not see the middle stage as weakness
Progress moves at a slow pace; achieving success sometimes takes years. But it is precisely in this middle stage, where it is unclear whether or not the effort will be successful, that real thinking and learning take place. Once we assume error-proof progress is possible, we give up the effort to be different and perhaps better. Any theory of change which claims leaders have to shift their views and then instigate a transformation misses the inevitable and very important phase of mistakes and learning from them.
Read more in our previous article How to admit a mistake and move on.
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