The idea for this post hit me this morning as I was struggling to balance Workshifting with my personal life.  I finished a video call and than was scrambling to get out of the house when my daughter grabbed me and asked, "Daddy, can't you stay home?"

At that moment I thought, "do I really need to be going into the office?"  I have all the tools I need to workshift successfully, including a supportive work culture, yet I was compelled to go into the office.  As it turns out, it was my insecurity.  I believed that to be effective in my meeting, I had to be face-to-face.

So out the door I went, I got to the meeting, grabbed a coffee and found a great seat.  I looked up at the presentation screen and watched 3/4 of the attendees join the meeting online.  This got me thinking about challenging accepted norms.  Not just my personal norms but traditional meeting norms, and norms in terms of process, technology, marketing, social media, and more.  What I blurted out next was purely coincidental, "...always be challenging!"

A: Always
B: Be
C: Challenging

Sometimes I get comfortable with how things are; how I interact with my peers, the technology I use, when I should meet face-to-face, etc. This also got me thinking about "sacred cows" at work.  What is their real value, and is it productive to even allow a "cow" category?  In my view, the problem with norms, like sacred cows, is it may breed a sense of complacency.  I guess it could be called a Complacency Cow, which is not to be confused with the infamous Purple Cow (thanks Seth Godin).



However, the terms Cultural and Sacred are powerful forces within a company, and are to be treated with respect.  The ability to influence or lead change needs to be candid but measured.  Be sensitive to the words you choose, but in all cases be an effective voice.  The key to being effective is not about being right.  It's about convincing others that there is a better way.

So next time your faced with a cultural norm, a scared cow, a must-have report, a can't-miss meeting, think about the A.B.C.'s.  The point of A.B.C. is to stimulate creative thinking, which is nothing more than figuring out a better way of doing things.  Next time try this, put your "sacred cow" on a mind map and draw out all the dependencies.  This is a great visual way to spot inefficiency, which can help slaughter a sacred cow or two.

What do you think?

Photo Credit: Mattack