Not only during the disturbing periods of change, but in day-to-day management situation too: action is always essential. A dynamic company could be characterized by the way action and analysis is combined in an efficient way. Too much action maybe counter-effective. This could be the case for instance if these actions contributed from the various parts of the organization do not add-up.

We all know that in most cases strategic plannings will be prepared by staff departments. These are dedicated to thinking about future scenarios. And some moment in time, these ideas about future changes will be in front of the operation. There is a moment where you have to take the steps.

This will be a period with a lot of uncertainty. You have to let go of current activities and rituals and you are to focus on something new, that is not clearly defined yet. This will lead to insecurity. The organization all together is less confident in what the next steps will have to be. But also on an individual level, employees are concerned with doubts about the near future and the way to get there. These emotions will slow the organization down. This is not a problem, because the mix between thinking and planning on one side and questioning these (individual) plans on the other will strengthen the transition.

There would be a problem when emotions dominate this process and where these may not only slow down the organization but would rather stop it. Everybody is talking like there has been a crash on the stock exchange, and there is no point in continuing investment because, this decline will proceed. The market is paralyzed.

If you have reached that stadium, than it is already too late, because it will take much more energy in getting the process in gear again.

Preventing this would require a continuous balance between thinking and doing, between thoughts and action. And this balance is leveraged by (managing) emotions. Although there is no indicator for signaling this fire-zone, any manager will (have to) know from experience when this occurs. The manager should intervene in the process. And at the other end, in the situation where you do not hear a sound where all seems okay, you should equally wonder and check whether your team is still doing the right thing.

2006 Hans Bool