Employee morale, corporate change and diversity is not as complicated as we make it.

I often find myself bored with anything that sounds “too professional”. Now this may sound strange coming from a person who conducts professional coaching and seminars, but let me expand. My desire to simplify the work environment stemmed from my engaging patiently in a myriad of professional banter over the years that was more about the newest jargon then what actually delivered the greatest impact.

A focus on moving cattle in a “classy” way was how I viewed most organizational change initiatives. Honoring the individual, and making an attempt to really heal what may be underlying the employee morale scores, was viewed as unconventional. However, it was just my style.

After years of doing seminars and helping individuals, teams and organizations I have learned that we all live in our own universes by choice. And if we choose to make work this rule-laden, creativity stifled, jargon posturing world – well, we can have that. If we choose to create a free-flowing, ideas-sharing and yes, fun-loving environment – we can have that too. It is our choice.

Isn’t’ life too short not be engaged in what you are passionate about? I don’t know, but I tend to think life is meant to be more fun, more free and more of a reflection of what we truly value. In other words, have we become too “stiff” in our professional lives to really tap into what creates the greatest impact?

The most important insight I have gained from working with many individuals and organizations, was in the power of thought. We create and attract what we think, feel and expect – separately and collectively. I have chosen “simple and fun” over “complicated and serious” for my work and have succeeded quite amusingly. It is my preference and the outcome I experience. However, I do think “complicated” gets a better rap then “simplicity” in work groups because no one wants to appear dumb. If something is too simple, it must be missing some genius morsel that then triggers the invention of additional words and processes…and meetings.

If an organizational change is needed, a good start may be with an honest look at how folks feel about themselves, their roles and organization in general. I found organizations to be no more then a projection of the collective thought of its employees and industry (good or not so), just as the individual is with their own life.

We can simplify things if we want to or we can hold more meetings for folks that like an arena for their newly learned jargon.  It is not a question of right or wrong; it is a question of preference.  Just as the airports choose the universal language of symbols to effectively communicate direction to the masses, we too can find the common denominator in what motivates, inspires and brings out the best in ourselves and others.