Barry Borgerson and Challenging Your Certainties

Organizations used to be notable for their stability. Some of the biggest companies were well-known for their established cultures, their recognizable products, and their steadfast brands. Going to work at one of those companies meant permanence and security. It wasn’t just that those companies were change adverse; it is that change was seen as irrelevant. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

But we don’t live in a world that is predictable and stable. As the saying goes, change is the only constant, and if we aren’t willing to change, then we may be on the path to irrelevance.

At the same time, wanting and being willing to change isn’t enough. We have to make changes in how we see the world and change our reactions to it. Barry Borgerson has been helping organizations see and make the changes they needed to make for some time. A PhD in computer science helped him see culture from a systemic perspective, understanding how an organization is a set of interconnected parts that can have a legacy framework that impedes change. Likewise, we need to create self-correcting mechanisms to help change happen more frequently in response to the rate of change. Finally, be challenging our perceptions in how we see the world can be the cornerstone in how we create the possibility for change