Concept

Mechanism

What keeps a blockage in place, for example: new business is measured against the core business. The one decision changes it.

The mechanism explains why a blockage persists although everyone sees it. It is at the core of working with the Transformation Discovery Compass: what matters is not the weakest field, but the mechanism that keeps the blockage in place, and the decision that changes it.

Examples

New business is measured by the standards of the core business and loses before it could learn. Responsibility was delegated, decision rights were not. Every level smooths things a little, because whoever reports bad news has to defend it. New initiatives get approved, old ones never end.

Field, axis, mechanism

The field shows where a symptom becomes visible. The tension axis shows where to look. The mechanism explains why it persists. The one decision changes it, and it is often made in a different field from where the symptom shows. Each of the twelve blocking patterns names its mechanism.

Go Deeper

Related Concepts

Blocking Pattern
A recurring interplay of symptom, tension axis and mechanism that blocks a decision. The book describes twelve of them.
Tension Axis
The line between two fields of the Compass on which a pattern becomes visible. It shows where to look, not yet the lever.
The One Decision
The binding commitment that now opens the most room for the next decisions, made despite uncertainty, with a review date.
Transformation Discovery Compass
An instrument with six perspectives on the same situation. Helps find the mechanism behind a blockage and the decision that changes it.
Canvas
The working surface of the Compass: the WHY in the centre, the five other fields around it. Available as an A3 template.

Insights

12 Muster, die Transformation blockieren, und wie man sie erkennt
Transformationen scheitern selten an fehlender Strategie. Sie scheitern an wiederkehrenden organisationalen Mustern, die unsichtbar wirken.

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