Today is Back to the Future Day. I make no apologies for being a total geek about the BTTF Trilogy – they are my favourite films of all time! Today is a good opportunity to re-share my approach to change and Glass Ceilings’ transformation services.
In BTTF2, Biff steals the Time Machine in 2015 then travels to meet his younger self in 1955. I won’t spoil the plot too much for anyone who hasn’t seen these films but his actions alter the course of his own and Hill Valley’s history, and make the alternate 1985 Hill Valley a horrible place to be.
Doc and Marty want to put this right, so Marty suggests to Doc that they travel forwards to 2015 from the alternate 1985. However, Doc points out that this would be to the future of the negative point in time they are travelling from. The only way to fix the issues, and restore Hill Valley to a more positive 1985, is to travel back in time to 1955 and prevent Biff from having a negative effect on the course of history.
The idea being that you can only effect change from the point in time at which you decide to do so, and you have to be realistic about the lived experiences of people in the here and now. Sensible advice!
Unlike Doc and Marty, you simply don’t have the option to travel back in time to undo whatever started the problems in the first place. Although I do have a bit of a reputation for anticipating things way before they happen and heading them off at the pass, we don’t have a Time Machine either.
So, Glass Ceilings® helps businesses to transform by taking my analogous ‘Back to the Future II’ approach. We look systemically and honestly – always without judgement – at organisational strategy, policy, procedures, and culture to identify what is causing issues in the here and now. We then recommend, and work together with leaders to implement, cost-effective, tangible actions that will make positive changes in the short, medium, and longer term. This could be anything from a team or process change through to a full restructure.
To make meaningful and effective positive change, it is crucial to:
- Identify any issues you do not want to carry into the future, and undo whatever has caused them.
- Celebrate the good stuff, and ensure none of this is negatively impacted on by the change.
- Ensure that any change will not disproportionately affect any particular group.
It’s not science fiction; it’s good practice, and to quote Doc Brown in the first film: “It works”!
If you’re thinking ‘Great Scott! This sounds like something we need’, get in touch. A preference for the Back to the Future trilogy is of course optional.
Laura Evans, CEO 21st October, 2024