The value of perspective

"There, below the main rings and to the right of the globe of Saturn, far in the distance and seemingly lost in the radiance of the scene, lies a small speck of blue light, floating in a sea of stars. That is our home, with every last one of us on it ... you, me, the folks down the block, even those on the opposite side of the Earth ... we all inhabit that lovely blue dot."

Carl Sagan

This is an image taken from the Cassini spacecraft. The little mission that could. Faithfully sending back 453,048 images over its 20 year mission in space and travelling a total of 4.9 billion miles. This, however, is its 'most beloved image,' requested by the inspirational Carl Sagan as an 'homage' to the Apollo 8 Earth rise image from 1969 that was credited with creating the whole 'one planet one people' mindset which remains central to many people's world view and sits behind the climate care movements we live with today.

I bring it up in response to a fabulous team meeting we had yesterday with the OCM European practice. The team meeting was fabulous because I got to see the fruition of two years' work. I have a wonderful team of professionals who work to the mantra that we set 'To us, For us, By us' – We have grown by nearly 30 consultants last year, and will grow even more this year. Big organisations aren’t easy to navigate and there is a temptation to wait and see what the next big idea will be coming down through the filters of leadership to the consulting teams across the world. We are running with so many aspirational aspects in our daily lives, both personal and professional, and we readily get down into the weeds and details – worrying about the little things and driving out the 'what ifs' and the 'buts'. I often hear people wanting to aspire to the saying, 'don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough', and if I'm honest I'm not sure that’s always apt – brain surgery and rocket science spring to mind where I'd really prefer perfect – however in business, especially the business of change, we need momentum and sometimes you have to push the bob sleigh off the top and make your adjustments as you pick up speed.?

Two years ago, I reasoned that if we wanted to work in a brilliant forward looking exciting and 'joyful' environment – and let's face it we should – then I needed to get the people around me to tackle the things that were holding us back from that aspiration.?

Yesterday the practice showed how they were embracing the self-leadership and ownership style I've been working to create, showing me, and a lot of others, that they got it and were living the To us, For us, By us way of working. Team after team were delivering hugely beneficial outcomes as part of our Growth 22 agenda, that not only benefitted the way we were working, but also, would be improving and enhancing what we do for our Colleagues, Partners and Clients.

However, I'm sure you are thinking 'yes yes rah rah all very corporate John.!' The moment of perspective for me wasn’t the outcomes this time it was the way it was achieved. This wasn’t through 'driving' and demanding their best like some scene from Ben Hur with the sweating big guy beating the drum as the enslaved rowers were whipped to row harder – it was through the energy creativity and excitement of smart people collaborating for common benefit. It was what I'd been working for and hoping for. I particularly enjoyed the team telling me I had recruited a 'real group of weirdos' but, for me, that’s what growth is – the diversity of new thought, but with common values shared, enabling big leaps forward.

Carl wanted to provide perspective for the world back in 2013. He wanted people to understand that everyone that had ever lived and everyone alive today was on that small pale blue dot hanging in the firmament. My own journey was much shorter in time and distance, but Cassini like I got to look back over the past two years and see just how far we had come.?

'The Weirdo's are inheriting the Earth', as the Practice might say, and not a moment too soon, I think.

?Thank you all.

John