You were starting school or playing a sport. Think back to what your mother, or father told you at the time. If you were like my parents you were constantly reminded that if we did not succeed, try, try again until you did. Funny thing happened when we entered the business world. Suddenly you are told if you can’t do it safely don’t do it.  If you tried something and it didn’t work then you are penalized for trying on your annual performance review. If you tried to show sings of innovation you have to do it in the confines of the organizational speak.

Lets jump to the present. Your organization, based on customer demands, has decided that you need to reinvent the organization. The TLS Continuum tells us that we have to be open to doing things differently. In an earlier segment of this series we suggested that the Continuum is a unique journey. Think of your High school science class and the first topic that was covered. It most likely was the use of the scientific method. Well the TLS Continuum is nothing more than the business version of that process.

We are only going to be able to initiate the required changes if we experiment with the options. We are only going to succeed at the organizational change if we try and when we don’t get it right, we try and try again until we do get it right. We return to the advice of our parents and keep trying. With this return to that earlier vantage point we need to have management change their attitude about the way we do things in the organization.

The full potential of the TLS Continuum is based on the organization removing the fear of trying something new. It is based on the belief that there is always a better way and we should not be penalizing our human capital assets for trying. Stop for a moment and think that with out having the ability to try something new without jeopardy we would not have the sticky notes from 3M and we would not have the I-phone.

There are examples of companies that get the message. These companies allow their human capital assets to spend a portion of their workday working on projects of their choosing. I something comes out of it then the company gets first chance to implement the end result.

As we move through the agile workplace there is no longer a place for management by fear. Open your perspective to allow for experiments on how things work in your organization. If at first they don’t work, listen to your Momma and try again. Keep experimenting until you effectively resolve the problems facing the organization.