We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction. ~ Bill Gates, from “The Road Ahead”
This has often been applied to thinking about technology and engineering in particular, but I also believe it applies to leadership. Leaders very often feel they need to drive transformation change and make it occur (and drive measurable financial income) in the short term (often the next fiscal year, or even quicker, given that institutional shareholders want quarterly updates on income and margins!). Transformative change in leadership and culture comes from the behavioural change at all levels in an organisation. Simply put, you can’t do it in one or two years. As Bill Gates put it, we always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years.
Instead, I encourage you to accept the adage “Slow down now to speed up later” and have the confidence that while we tend to overestimate what we can do in the short term, we underestimate what we can achieve in the long term.
A great example of this is from the leadership of Pat Kramer, who took the reins as CEO of BDO Canada in July 2015 and just completed his seven-year term. He and I worked closely together from early 2015 through 2016 on leading transformative change, with a clear focus on engagement, alignment then agreement at all levels in the organisation, so creating a foundation for transformative change.
In February 2021, Pat came on as a guest on the #WhatComesNextLive podcast, and the entire conversation is a wonderful lesson on what you can do to lead an organisation through challenging times (this was in the middle of the pandemic) once you have lead transformative change through leadership and culture change. Please listen to this if you have an interest in leading through challenging times in an organisation with a strong culture and alignment.
Covid changes occurred for BDO Canada starting in early 2020, so nearly five years after Pat Kramer took the reins as CEO. Having been closely involved in the change period back in 2015 and 2016, my clear sense is that we may well have underestimated the positive impact of that work in the long term.
So, transformative change takes time. Accept this, then consider the long-term value of investing in it.
If you’d like to talk more about this, book a Zoom call with me. This is my sweet spot, the work I love the most, whether for individual leaders or for their organisations (and, very often, both at the same time!).