Denis, thank you for the great comments, especially distinguishing principals and fundamentals. Certainly this is important for leadership teams to be successful in leading their organizations.

-Tim

Within a business environment, striving for continuous organisational learning is an important matter for the leadership team. Encouraging staff to develop a deep understanding of the forces of change has to be part of the daily activity of everyone.

We have two words in our language; Principles & Fundamentals! What we mean by both of these words is that they apply independent of time and circumstance. Our principles and the ones held by a group within a business, are the result of decisions we make. We actually have to decide what principles we are going to apply to our lives and then stick to those principles irrespective of the situation. Principles provide individuals and groups with stability and a sense of constancy especially at times of dramatic change. We know of the tongue in cheek phrase “I have principles on these matters and if you don’t like my principles, well I have other principles!” Amusing as this is it is all too often true.

When we say something is Fundamental we are saying we understand the underlying forces of change and that they are also independent of time and place. Gravity is fundamental! It more or less applies everywhere on earth, was there yesterday, is here today and we can plan on it being there tomorrow! The same applies within business change and organisations. We need to strive and encourage everyone to gain a better understanding of the fundamentals that are both driving and opposing change within our business world. Only with a good understanding of the fundamentals of change can we begin to manage change to achieve purposeful outcomes.

So, it is really a matter of personal principle as to whether we choose to drive fast cars and whether we drive them under difficult and harsh conditions. One may decide that it is a great thing to do as long as nobody else is at risk. It develops skill, it is great fun and give the driver the rush of their life. Another may decide, never under any circumstances, there are other responsibilities that mean driving fast cars is against their principles. All fine, if driving fast cars happens to be a really important matter in someone’s life or within a family’s then there isn’t a right or wrong it is just a matter of deciding ones principles on the matter. Likewise, if driving fast cars is your thing then practice is really important as is the learning gained from the experience. The learning needs to be based on both the theory and the experience of driving the car under all sorts of different conditions. The aim is to understand the fundamentals forces so greater know how and skill can be applied what ever conditions are encountered.

Within business life this returns us to matters that are well understood and frequently written about. Books have been written on the important for the leadership team to decide the set principles that are going to be use to underpin their business decision making and personal practice. More importantly though that the leadership team collectively live day by day and demonstrate in their practice what the principles actually mean. People learn by example and role modelling is critical. Within business we also need to strive to understand the fundamentals of change and apply this understanding to help bring about the desired outcomes. Applying some superficial understanding, some prejudice of basing a decision on hearsay or partial information is almost bound to result in unintended and often negative outcomes.

So we decide our principles and then follow this with a deep understanding of the fundamentals of change. If we do this we will make a concious balanced decision as to whether we are going to drive fast cars or not and if we do decide we are going to drive fast cars we can then drive them with confidence that even under difficult conditions we will still be able to have great fun and be safe!