If something is perfect from start to finish there is no suggestion of the infinite (Yanagi Soetsu)

Photo by Photoholgic on Unsplash

Recently, Seth Godin posted this and it made me reflect on the decision making process around a recent big change we've made at the Hastings' Campus for this year - swapping the purpose of the upstairs and downstairs learning spaces around to accommodate the number of students and the staffing we have.

The two choices for anyone with a new idea

“It’s simple.”

“It’s complicated.”

When you talk to someone about your new idea, they’re going to realize right away that it’s one or the other.

The trap is trying to pitch a complicated cultural shift, possibility or project as if it’s simple.

Darwin’s insight about how the world evolved is simple once you understand it, but it represents such a conceptual leap that bringing it to someone who’s looking for a simple and easy explanation is sure to fail. But if you invite someone along for a journey instead of a quick fix, you earn the right to take your time and tell your story. 

The simple/complex trap often confuses well-meaning people in politics, business and the arts. The solution isn’t to dumb down the complex. The solution is to invite the right people along on the journey.

I feel that the successful consultative/collaborative approach did just that - invited the right people along in the process.

It's not going to be perfect but we've got the right basis within which to embrace the imperfections.