There’s only a brief window to make change to established practices.
The first two times you do it, you’re learning how we do it.
By the fifth time you do it, you’re leading how we do it.
In between, you have just a few attempts to say, “I know we do it this way, but what if…”
This is true in concerts, productions, team leadership, institutional leadership, colleague relations, volunteer boards, and any other place I look.
If you start too soon, you don’t have a good lay of the land. It’s possible to make change, but the people you’re working with might not trust your perspective.
If you wait too long, you’re fully incorporated into the system as it stands. It’s still possible to make change, but harder because you’ve practiced.