Going through hoops

On this site we tend to favour rugby metaphors over basketball, particularly at this time of year. We have however been unable to overlook the rising stardom of new NBA phenomenon Jeremy Lin whose recent performances for the New York Knicks have made him a hot commercial property with an estimated value of some $14 million.

It appears that success for this Harvard grad comes after a less than an auspicious start to his career in other NBA teams and with such style that a serious business commentator such as Fortune's Eric Johnson are able to itemise no fewer than 10 ways in which young Lin can be an example to us all.

One of Johnson's learnings from Lin particularly appealed to us at Change Agency: "Don't overlook talent that might exist around you today." This is a sound conclusion and, although obvious, is a recurring issue even in very capable organisations.

Effective change means reappraising the talent available to us and using the best available techniques to understand how our people are wired and to make the most of their potential rather than focus purely on past record. It seems that Lin would still be playing in the minor leagues by now if left to the judgement of his former teams in Texas and California.

Successful change does come from within and it really helps to understand properly the potential that we already have within the business. Are our people coming up short because of their limitations? It's just as likely that we're playing them in the wrong positions or putting them unnecessary hoops to get things done.