Outdated Beliefs Get in the Way

Many organisations today seem stuck in a pattern of missed opportunities and mediocrity. They work hard, but never achieve their potential for dignity, joy, and shared prosperity.

The key reason is that most organisations cling to outdated assumptions and beliefs about the world of work – assumptions and beliefs that hold them back. Their mental models of how business works are based on premises that were, maybe, relevant decades ago but have long since become obsolete.

For example, a common outdated belief is that decision quality is higher when decisions flow through strict organisational hierarchies, when flatter structures often foster faster innovation and improved decison quality, both.

Another toxic belief is that loyal, long-term employees are an organisation’s greatest asset. But in the modern workplace, it’s the relationships between employees that promotes prosperity and fresh thinking.

The world moves fast today. What made an organisation dominant 10 or even 5 years ago no longer guarantees success. The leaders and companies that dump outdated assumptions and beliefs about how things work are positioned to achieve their aspirations.

By continually questioning their premises and mental models, organisations can recognise where staus quo wisdom no longer applies. They can pivot rapidly rather than being mired in he past. And they can pursue innovative opportunities for atteding to folks’ needs, instead of sticking to familiar but lame and dysfuntional practices.

Shedding outdated beliefs at all levels is the only reliable way for an organisation to keep achieving extraordinary results in a world of accelerating change. The companies that realise this will be poised for progress in the years ahead.