I like the seed as a metaphor how change can spread without being fully directed.
It also made me think of the rhizome. Not something planted in one place and then spreading outward. Rather, change is happening through many connections at once without a clear origin.
That sort of suggests a different strategy too. It would be less about deciding what to plant, more about seeing what is already connecting or rather, where something is already moving.
And then see what might happen if those connections are strengthened.
tl;dr --> maybe it's not always about starting but noticing where something is already beginning.
“Dandelion-types prefer a more efficient approach, where strategies grow like weeds in an organization. Since you cannot, according to Mintzberg, distinguish between good and bad strategies at their conception (at the seed stage), you must allow them to grow before taking your pick of the crop. This has downsides, too, like the cost of observing all of the strategies growing at any moment.”
Nice, and another potential issue with dandelions is exactly that they are weeds: they can grow where you don’t want them and then are very hard to get rid of!
I like the seed as a metaphor how change can spread without being fully directed.
It also made me think of the rhizome. Not something planted in one place and then spreading outward. Rather, change is happening through many connections at once without a clear origin.
That sort of suggests a different strategy too. It would be less about deciding what to plant, more about seeing what is already connecting or rather, where something is already moving.
And then see what might happen if those connections are strengthened.
tl;dr --> maybe it's not always about starting but noticing where something is already beginning.
Also: this metaphor explored in my Innovation Tactics deck:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/78k81681498dl0cxse69y/Focus-Seeds-vs-Soil-Front.png?rlkey=smnm5jggpbvy25u4fnacg86mb&st=qbpsqp37&dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/cm92ixb36e5jk2gbxx4ph/Focus-Seeds-vs-Soil-Back.png?rlkey=i6hf5nvz2anbwrshrz0cl5dy8&st=03r2x0uz&dl=0
“Dandelion-types prefer a more efficient approach, where strategies grow like weeds in an organization. Since you cannot, according to Mintzberg, distinguish between good and bad strategies at their conception (at the seed stage), you must allow them to grow before taking your pick of the crop. This has downsides, too, like the cost of observing all of the strategies growing at any moment.”
Nice, and another potential issue with dandelions is exactly that they are weeds: they can grow where you don’t want them and then are very hard to get rid of!