Recently, a ceiling light burned out. I thought I had another, so I balanced carefully on a ladder, took out the old one and descended. Sure enough, my replacement was identical. I climbed back up, put in the replacement bulb, reinstalled the cover, descended again, and turned the lights on.

Nothing.

Had my replacement been defective? No, I had replaced the burned out bulb with….the same bulb. I had not been careful in identifying the new one.

Many people in professional services think they’re “updating” when they’re not even replacing what they’ve been doing that’s outdated with something newer, but rather just changing a bit of language: “technology” becomes “AI”: attrition becomes “conscious quitting”: “innovation” becomes “disrupt.”

Don’t just change the bulb with a spare of the same type. Ask yourself if you have anything brighter.

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