Decisions by Design | Edition 23

Renovation vs. Reimagination. AKA The Beetle Story. 

EDITION | 23

There is a meaningful difference between change and transformation.

Change is incremental.
It adjusts, tweaks, improves.

And if it isn’t fully integrated, it’s often reversible. New habits fade. Old systems reassert themselves. The organization quietly slides back to what’s familiar.

Transformation doesn’t work like that.

Transformation is a decision.
And once that decision is made, there’s no going back.

They just made one in Kansas. Renovate Arrowhead or start from scratch. Both are expensive. Both disruptive. Only one fundamentally reimagines what the future could be.

Over the years, I’ve watched countless leaders face this same choice in technology.

Add another layer. Patch the system. Bolt on a new tool. Extend a platform that was never designed for what the organization now needs it to do.

Sometimes that works.
Often, it doesn’t.

At a certain point, complexity becomes the cost. And no amount of upgrading can make the original design suddenly fit the new strategy.

In June of 2020, we faced a version of that decision on the farm.

And decided to burn our house down.

On purpose.

The post-and-beam structure we had begun renovating was infested with powder post beetles. What started as optimism quickly became reality. The integrity of the structure was compromised. No amount of cosmetic improvement could solve what was happening beneath the surface.

The structure itself carried a history. It was originally an 1800s embankment barn for sheep. Clever in its own right. Full of character. But never intended to hold what we were asking of it decades later.

So we donated it to the local fire departments to train for circumstances where this decision is not a choice.

For a week, much to the delight of my son, fire trucks lumbered up the driveway. They practiced. Planned. Prepared.

And then, one Saturday morning in June.

Thirty minutes. Gone.

There was no undo button.
No gradual rollback.
No option to put it back the way it was.

And that was the point.

It was one of the best things that ever happened to us.

Because the truth is, the house was never quite right. Interesting. Full of character. But it quietly dictated what was possible. We could have changed things. Shifted walls. Improved flow.

But we never could have transformed it.

And what lay beneath was the constraint that mattered most.

The 40x50 foundation remained.

That single constraint turned possibility into intention. Not “what could this be?” but “what do we choose to build, knowing this is what we have?”

I have seen the same relief when organizations finally let go and make room for something new.

That is the difference between editing and transforming.

As you look toward the new year, consider this:

What do you want to change?
And what, once decided, must be irreversible?

Some things can be improved.
Others must be released.

Not everything deserves a renovation.
Some things deserve a match.

Until next time,
With clarity and care,
Courtney