Gardeners Not Mechanics: How to cultivate change at work 

Lasting change is elusive. Whether it’s as significant as Brexit or as personal as finding a job you love, the obstacles are surprisingly similar.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the solutions are also similar. This book covers both of these types of change, and it has one big idea that links them together.

The world of work is an ecosystem of interdependent organisations, groups and individuals. So, if you want to make a sustainable change at work, you are more likely to succeed if you approach your change as a gardener, not a mechanic.

Mechanics rely on predictability. They assume that the same inputs produce the same outputs, time after time. A car, for example, will perform as predicted on a tarmac road. But put it in a ploughed field, and its performance will be unpredictable. Machines need well-defined, controlled environments in which to perform well.

In contrast, gardeners know that their environment is unpredictable, with much of it outside their control. Gardeners, therefore, take small steps towards a bigger goal. They experiment to find out what works and what doesn’t and continually adjust to what they find out. They know there is no guarantee that what worked before will work again because they know their environment is in a constant state of flux.

The examples I use in this book are a mix of organisational and personal change. But actually, group and individual change are two sides of the same coin. Too often, we see change as something we do to others. We use phrases such as getting buy-in. We forget at our peril that change depends as much on a shift in our own assumptions, beliefs and behaviours, as it does on those of others.

The book has two parts.

Part I describes the key ideas, including a description of three core characteristics of ecosystems:
– Unpredictability
– Interdependence
– Limits of control

Part II has one chapter for each for nine elements of gardening:
-Plan
-Prepare the soil
-Plant
-Prune
-Weed
-Water
-Stake
-Ensure good health
-Enjoy your harvest

Throughout the book, exercises will help you think deeply about a real change you want to make, with a gardener’s mindset.