When I reflect on the title of this issue and the topics of our contributed articles, it reminds me of the motivations of many of the EA practitioners I have worked with over the years. They have been an inspiring group who collectively and individually were drawn to EA because they aspired to make a difference in their companies. They had a strong sense of wanting to do the right things for the enterprise, to collaborate and work with internal communities to understand and identify opportunities for longer-term leverage, to enable positive incremental change, to protect against unintended consequences, and to add big picture insight to narrow decision making.
Fulfilling that aspiration isn’t always an easy path. Sometimes, and frankly more often than one would expect, the climate for conversations about EA hasn’t been established, muted by the need to deliver on the projects at hand. It is often the wrong time, or the practitioner is in the wrong place.
But EA practitioners have persevered, created opportunities for new conversations, and used targeted stories to expose new perspectives and enlighten stakeholder communities. They showed initiative.
Positive results come from a willingness to experiment. Every company is different and will require different techniques. So be open to a hybrid approach. In this issue Monte Rummer, Dr. Steven Else, Brian Cameron, and Jeff Scott offer a wealth of suggestions that you can add to your kit bag of ideas and techniques. We hope you take some inspiration from them.
We are proud to feature articles contributed by you, our readers. Would you like to join in and share your ideas? Please contact us through our website. And as always, thanks for being an A&G reader!
