Lockton…

Yesterday, I held practice with three Lockton teams. They learned a bit about BTL and I learned a lot about them. They are not a normal system by any stretch. They’ve built a high performance culture for nearly 50 years and have got it going on. And, they can do more. They can get better. They still have a high ceiling, just like you…

Today, a number of them learned why stress is not the enemy – NOT changing is. Remember, when Han’s defined the word back in the 50’s he said, “Stress is any challenge to the system meant for growth.”

You see as good as Lockton is, they are not as good as they think they are. And, they can become much better than they think is possible. The enemy is the comfortable confines of their success. This is why sustained high performance is so hard. This is why so few repeat their successes year after year in sport, art, politics, or commerce. We humans get comfortable and don’t realize we’ve settled into a rut until we’re, usually, good and stuck.

Last night I sat and listened to a team of producers fight. They still fight like babies. They were fighting to prove a point. They were fighting only for themselves. They were NOT fighting to improve performance.

The best of the best, you see, have the same selfish interests as the rest of us. They’ve simply caught a bigger dream than their own pea patch and learned how to get out of their own way. When they fight, it is to improve performance; their own, and their partners. You see, the best understand that healthy systems cannot survive deep division within. So, they bubble up the conflict and broaden their own perspective. They see beyond their pea patch and look out for the interest of others. This is real, hard, work and rare in the world of work.

However, the fact that it’s rare means it is possible. Be the change, my few attentive friends. Ghandi was right – Be the change…