2025 > 2024

Recently I was working with a leader who knew their approach was tiring. The team hadn’t been producing good work for some time, and morale was flagging.

They knew they needed more than just fresh ideas, they needed a fresh approach to ideas. 

As we began to look through their form and function, we were presented with a surprising amount of opportunities to move things ahead. A nice surprise. We began to suggest different areas where their processes were failing them. Nothing earth shattering, but some simple alignments that would at least point them towards the change they’re looking for. It wasn't too long, however, until the real issue emerged. 

At every turn, there was a variation on what would become a familiar theme … 

‘Oh we can’t change that…

‘Ah, we’ve always done it that way …

‘Well see, the reason we do this is ….’                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

++

It became evident fairly quickly that this group had a lot of sacred cows. Things they wouldn’t touch because they’d become too attached to them. Ways of doing things that had become a bigger priority than the things they were there to do in the first place!

When we elevate pathways over purpose, our teams will quickly lose sight of what they’re aiming for and why.

Change is often simple, but rarely easy.

This is why things like sacred cows become so dangerous. We get attached to things that did work / have once worked. We cling to things that make us feel safe or attach us to surer and safer times. And this leads us to make shallow changes to symptoms rather than treating the causes. 

In turn, this stops us from arresting the negative momentum - and it hinders us from making significant moves ahead. Hollow hints at progress may feel like wholesale change, but in reality are more like shuffling deckchairs.

As leaders, we need a willingness to do things differently in 2025, or else we’ll end up with the same problems and roadblocks we had in 2014, just with 12 months added to their lifespan.

As the new year starts, you need a renewed vigour to take your sacred cows and put them on the altar. Here’s how. 

Do a personal stocktake of what has been stagnant for the last few months. Both in yourself and in your team. It is so important to look closely at what hasn’t been fruitful for you in your key relationship structures and creative workflow. 

Be deliberate in examining what is taking a lot of time or energy but bringing back very little in return.

A few thoughts you may find helpful:

I    Everyone wants change. Very few want TO change.

Put another way, you won’t change your life if you’re not actually willing to change the things you’ve attached to your life. 

II    Hold tight to core values, let go of the methods you may have attached to them.

Your core values are the anchor that must remain … without them as absolutes, you have nothing worth building on or a target worth aiming at. But when you equate your preferences and familiar comfort zone with the immovable bedrock of principle and heart … you rob yourself of the ability to climb to higher ground.

III    Recognise the difference between what’s a core principle and what’s simply a preference.

This is the key milestone to outgrowing your current mindset. It will help you acknowledge where you are and determine how to put some of your sacred cows out to pasture.

Here’s a framework of questions I’ve found helpful to ask myself:

+ what is producing the highest return in my life and work?

+ what is bringing back the lowest return?

+ When I think about what I do - how much of it has remained unchanged and unchallenged for > 6months?

+ what are the biggest obstacles in my own growth that I have the power to change? 

+ when was the last time I asked someone for input about my blindspots?

+ who around me could help identify what’s a core value and what’s simply a preference or bias that I hold?

If you’re really going to make 2025 a new year, it will require a new approach. Without it, you will find yourself sitting in the same field rather than climbing new mountains. A determination to change is only useful when accompanied by both strategy + action.

I’d love to hear from you - how are you planning to approach 2025 differently? What are some sacred cows you’ve held onto for too long that you are ready to move on from?

 Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash