31 Dec Are we transformed yet?

We don’t know how to DO Transformation.

The word itself is so oblique that I looked it up. Sure enough, Webster’s first entry includes a circular reference.

TRANSFORMATION: an act, process, or instance of transforming or being transformed.

So the way to define transformation is… with itself? That is maddening.

It makes strange sense too. Transformation unfolds from the integration of lots of knowledge and disciplines. And it’s full of contradictions: it’s integrated & specialized; ambiguous & precise; analytic & creative; a long game that starts now.

Like I said, maddening.

But on a practical level, transformation means getting people talking to each other in new ways to make new stuff – people who aren’t sharing ideas. But not because they’re jerks in silos. They don’t have easy ways to talk with each other.

So forget the word.

Just make it easier for people to talk to each other.

How?

GO TALK TO PEOPLE.

Give them interesting things to think about. Not perfect problem statements, but imperfect, meaty questions that get them thinking and making stuff with you. (And for you.)

And give yourself a break. You’re not supposed to know how to do this. Yet. That’s the work.