Do you recognize this; you have come back from a holiday, you get back to work and the same day at five o’clock (or the next day at four) you seem to have forgotten about your holiday. The energy and fine ideas that you brought back with you are fading away once you are behind your desk.
In general. Traveling is often used as a metaphor to explain a change. People travel all the time and changes are also omnipresent. You can travel alone or with a team. And the destination of a journey may be seen as the result of a new change. You are never the same when you have experienced a journey or holiday, but the way in which you have really changed is limited.
The journey. To map this metaphor the journey could be mapped on a change program. Your organization runs this change program and at the end, the program (journey) is over and the change is made.
Preparations. A long journey requires some preparations or planning. For a journey this is easily done and a free choice for the traveler. If its pure holiday you are free to improvise but you would be sorry if all the hotels are booked just at the moment you had planned to visit.
A change could be planned but with much less certainty. The destination - the next topic - is a place that needs to be constructed. This is one of the liabilities of a change that you never know when you have “made it.”
Destination. The destination could either be the same place from where you departed or a new location. In the first case, the journey could be anything as simple as a holiday or as promising as a sabbatical. The longer the time you take for this sabbatical, the harder it will be you zip back into your old life. And that’s the risk of such a tour that you may have changed over time. So even if the destination is the same, the result - as being a real change - may be significant.
Luggage. What luggage do you need or wish to carry with you. The luggage may fall under the preparations. The more luggage the better you ought to be prepared what ever you may encounter on your trip. But there is no guarantee, neither for the real journey, nor for the change in process. Knowledge however, is an element that fits both worlds. This is one reason why projects exist; to bundle all possible knowledge in order to increase the chance of success.
Guide. Do you need a guide - A Management Style Guide for example. The style reflecting the way you find your destination. And is this guide a person, a team or a paper-guide with some hints, tips and warnings that will support you on the way?
Again, a normal journey with a “known” destination might not require such a guide. Yet a quest for a change will probably appreciate such a guide. In fact how would you manage to get your team member to arrive at the same destination, if there are no guidelines?
Shortcomings. Travel versus Moving. We have seen it and we forget the importance, the impact is fading once you are back for a week. Moving seems to be more accurate as a change. Or if you decide to use the travel metaphor for supporting a change, you should also know its shortcomings. And these are at the end, when you think that the journey is over. When managing a change, the real challenge starts when the trip is finished. Then starts the hard work; to control and check whether the “delivered” change doesn’t fade away.
Using a metaphor is alright as long as you signal the shortcomings and act to compensate them...
© 2006 Hans Bool
Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days.
You can apply for a free demo account
