Move the Elephant

It has been said by a recent leader that it is sometimes difficult to "move the elephant". The question is not moving the elephant, the question is do you need to move the elephant? Once you have decided that there is a need to move the elephant, the question becomes, how to move the elephant? Sometimes the elephant, a large powerful animal can take gentle prodding. Maybe an incentive or a punishment. (The old carrot or the stick). Sometimes, the elephant needs to have a more powerful incentive to move.

Which leads me to the comment that sometimes the elephant needs to be moved quickly. While I would prefer not hitting the elephant or hurting the elephant, one could easily startle the elephant with something that it did not expect. Timing and placement of the thing which startles the elephant is crucial. If it has already heard a loud noise before, it may not work.

The next issue is where do you want the elephant to go once you have caused it to move? Again, giving the elephant direction through gentle prodding may work. However, corraling the elephant may be the best method. Corraling the elephant entails showing the elephant that there is only one path you want it to take and that it can take. The path that will lead the elephant to the place where you want it to be.

One must not only want to move the elephant. One must be willing to give the elephant direction so next time it will understand, hopefully on its own, that it is to move in the right direction.

Nothing like a little analogy to give one pause.

Shalom

Jeremy Krantz