Sourced directly from LinkedIn Pulse here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/thats-how-we-have-always-done-around-here-craig-cicardo-sr- Written by Craig Cicardo Sr

Often professionals are brought in to “shake up” the culture, or spark life into a once thriving organization that is encountering hard times. Sometimes, being on the cutting edge, scrapping the old core values, and starting from scratch is the philosophy used to get that organization back to the top, instead of complying with the organization's age old blue print.

Yes, it is true, some have achieved great things by refusing to acknowledge the existing methods which have resulted in prior success while introducing a whole new way of thinking and doing things... on the other hand, refusing to acknowledge the past, refusing to follow any aspects of the original blue print, and being a hard headed individualist, has led to continued failure time and time again.

Many gurus want to blame the “that’s how we have always done it around here” mentality by existing employees, as the biggest barrier for new ideas to take hold. However, let’s take a step back and consider this - maybe the failure to find a compromise between new ideas and old ideas is the barrier that stands in the way of turning around the once thriving, top of the mountain organization, that has fallen on hard times.

Perhaps we can come to a conclusion that it is best to comply with the existing blue print of proven success while applying our own unique individual characteristics and methods. By doing this, we not only respect how things achieved greatness at one time, but ignite imminent success by supplementing the now and the future, with our fresh ideas and abilities. Meanwhile, those who have been through the good and the bad times with the organization will appreciate the acknowledgement of past success, and will be more than likely to accept new ideas that will help strengthen the once effective means that led to those past years of success.

It is just as great to be a contributor to greatness as it is to be a revolutionary trying to change the world. If things become stagnant where they were once great, it isn't necessarily good to trash the ones who say, "that is how we have always done it around here." What may be better, is to comply with "how it has always been done," while simply putting a new spin on it.

If the house gets a little outdated, do we tear it down and build a brand new one? Not if it there is a little vision, patience, and work ethic (and a little money). We rip up the rug, and put down hardwood floor. We replace the linoleum with tile, and put in some granite counter tops... When the foundation is solid, you don't need to scrap what exists- just have some vision, the guts to take advantage of some fresh ideas, and the stamina to see what was once at the top of the mountain, find its way back. Furthermore, when the old accepts the new, and the new respects the old...the once great will rise even higher and take their success to another level.