Smart ideas alone don’t create change. People who believe in them do.
A new strategy that everyone was excited about at the start ends up being questioned. The campaign that launched with energy begins to feel ordinary. People might start to ask…
“Should we try something different?”
Not because the idea or strategy has failed but because they can’t see it working… yet. And that’s the challenge with almost every organisational change.
Every strategy asks people to believe in a future they can’t yet see.
That can be easy at first but as time rolls on it can be harder, particularly if progress is hard to see.
The valley every organisation walks through
James Clear describes something in Atomic Habits called the Valley of Disappointment.
It’s the gap between effort and results. We expect progress to be visible, yet meaningful change often stays invisible for far longer than we’d like.
Reading it recently made us think… organisations can have a valley of disappointment too.
Not where ideas or strategies fail but where belief is tested.
If you’ve ever launched a strategy, a campaign or a change programme, you’ll probably recognise the feeling.
We might assume proof creates belief. But belief gives ideas more time to prove themselves.
Look to the garden
Your garden teaches a useful lesson. For weeks, it looks almost unchanged, then one morning, everything seems to have grown. Except it didn’t happen overnight.
The gardener knows today’s job isn’t harvesting, it’s watering. Roots don’t grow where people are looking, they grow underneath. Gardeners don’t dig up seeds every fortnight to check they’re growing. Because they know searching for proof too early destroys the very thing they’re trying to grow.
Maybe organisations should borrow that mindset.
The messy middle is where people confuse invisible progress with no progress.
As a creative agency, we’ve seen this more than once. Creative ideas and strategies rarely fail in the brainstorm. They rarely fail at launch. They fail when belief disappears and before momentum arrives.
James Clear writes:
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”
Organisations cast votes too. Every conversation, campaign and decision to stay consistent can feel small but together they become trust, culture and build reputation.
Too often, good ideas and strategies are abandoned before they can take root. Sometimes they need time, space and care to grow.
The road ahead
Inevitably, fresh priorities, new initiatives and another temptation to chase what’s next is just around the corner. Some of those ideas and strategies will deserve your attention. Others will simply distract you from the work that’s already slowly flourishing.
Before asking “What’s next?”, perhaps ask “What can we continue to grow?”
Don’t stand in the valley alone
If you’re navigating organisational change, launching a new strategy, refreshing your brand or trying to build momentum behind an important campaign, we’d love to help you bridge the gap between belief and proof.
