Why is a bridge and water such a good explanation of how people go wrong with business transformation?

I use this image to open a lot of my learning and teaching on service and business transformation. What do you see?

Some see

- white water — froth and waste which we can remove one obstacle at a time, allowing us to see more at each step

- the chance to bore out a concrete channel to carry the water smoothly… until the detritus builds up again

- a flood of demand we need to build defences against

- a rich, living ecosystem we should explore

- upstream and downstream opportunities for improvement

- a keystone arch — a miraculous way to make a bridge support its own weight. But try to copy someone else’s business excellence without understanding the scaffolding needed to make it work, and you’re just throwing stones in the air and hoping they stick.

The point is that when I say ‘here’s an image which is about business transformation’, everyone responds from their perspective, their understanding.

What do you see?

#businesstransformation #servicetransformation #metaphor #learning