Pushing Change: 5 Things You Need to Know
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Imagine this.
You’ve just launched a major 12-month project, and you know it’s going to create massive change across the organization.
You know it’ll rock everyone’s world and naturally want to develop a plan to mitigate the risks.
But before you do, there are some myths worth debunking.
The next three minutes are about you and ensuring the next big change you push is successful.
5 Things You Need to Know About Pushing Change
I.
Conventional wisdom suggests we should identify a WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) when communicating change to employees. The idea is that if the personal benefits of the change are clear, individuals will get on board. However, this thinking is completely misguided. Research shows that humans are communal, purpose-driven beings. People respond more to “What’s in it for us” than to individual gains. Check out this University of Michigan study about the power of pronouns.
II.
Also falling under conventional wisdom is the well-known book, Who Moved My Cheese?—a fable about embracing change, often used by leaders to urge employees to be more flexible and resilient. However, in field research supporting my book, I found the top reason change fails is that people simply don’t have the time to adopt something new. That’s a leadership issue, not an employee problem.
III.
Another phrase that needs to be reconsidered is, “People resist change.” In my 18 years as a Chief Information Officer, I never encountered an employee who flat-out said, “I won’t do that!” Instead, the real issue I observed is change apathy. People tend to take a wait-and-see approach to anything new. It’s apathy, not resistance, that we need to solve for. That requires less convincing, and more listening.
IV.
A common communication tactic is think-analyze-change: presenting data in a PowerPoint, hoping the audience analyzes it, changes their thinking, and ultimately their behavior. However, people are mostly irrational, so this approach often falls short. A better tactic is see-feel-change: people need to see something that evokes a feeling, which then drives action. You can learn more from Dan Heath's video, Want Your Organization to Change? Put Feelings First (and his book Switch is worth reading, too).
V.
No matter what change readiness plan you execute, change will never happen overnight. Never. Even with the best training, communications, and support tactics, we’re all human. And science teaches us that, on average, people need 66 days to map a new habit. Here’s a 2-minute video I produced with a simple example about brushing your teeth.
If you’re into extra resources, I highly recommend my book, People Before Things. I share the seven reasons people struggle with change. It’s an easy read—and it’s free!
If you want to vent, share tools, ask questions, or make comments, let’s get the conversation started below in the comments section!
Your coach,
Chris
P.S. ♻ Sharing is caring. Please consider forwarding this to a colleague or friend, if you found it useful. Your kindness could improve someone else’s world of work!
