I recently had the opportunity to have lunch with a top executive at a large company. As we were discussing the challenges of making “change happen” in large organizations, he made the following statement that immediately “stuck” in my mind:

The number of exceptions a company is willing to make to its policies is an indicator of its openness and willingness to change. If you’re primary concern is always how you’ll have to explain the exception to your entire workforce, you’ll never change.”

This is profound…In essence, this means that by “pushing the envelope” in one area (the exception) it gives the company the opportunity to experiment and pilot a change on a small scale before launching it to the masses.

Clearly, it’s a bad sign if policies are not enforced out of fear of “doing the right thing.” However, by the same token, it’s equally bad to let fear hold you back to make exceptions that could enable your organization to innovate, change, and thereby discover a “better thing.”

Exceptions as a way to innovate and make change happen in your organization…Your thoughts?

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