This is the 8th post (I'm halfway through!) of my 16 post series celebrating the 16th anniversary of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. You can scroll down to read more of the series or go here to read the introductory post.
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Perhaps it is odd that I have gotten half way through this series of posts before I talk about change - which might be the most pervasive theme of all my work as a trainer and consultant.
I can't, in this short post share everything I have learned about change, change leadership, change communication and the success and failure of change. But I also couldn't leave it off the list either for two basic reasons.
1. We all have to deal with change individually and organizationally all the time. 2. Organizationally, we have a pretty lousy record at doing it successfully (as a whole I'm not sure we are a whole lot better at it individually either).
When we aren't very good at something that affects us everyday, there is a learning opportunity!
Here are four key ideas and actions that will help you deal with and lead change more effectively. 1. People don't resist change, they resist being changed.
Stop and reread this sentence.
The point here is that change is a choice that people make. Since we all like to be in control of our lives and our circumstances, there is much less resistance and much greater success, when people are in a position to choose (or have input into) any change. This applies to a big wide spread company change and to the change of dinner plans with your family on Friday night.
2. People change for their reasons, not yours.
Change is a choice and it is made individually. Just because you are completely sold on a change, doesn't mean someone else sees it. Your values, experience and criteria are different. You see the world differently than they do.
This is ok -and even if it doesn't seem ok to you, it doesn't matter. It is reality. One important implication of this fact is that we can't get others to change by simply stating our case more passionately and/or louder. this isn't communication, it is coercion, and it won't work.
3. There is an emotional component to change.
People don't choose change based solely on facts any more than they make any other decision completely based on logic. How receptive (or not) we are to any change relates to all of our past experience about change, what our most recent experiences are, and what else is going on in our lives.
How we feel about change and the specific situation matters. Alot.
Keeping this in mind and planning accordingly is one way to drastically improve your ability to lead and nurture any organizational change.
4. You can't make change happen with a PowerPoint presentation.
At least not by itself.
When you take the other three points together you will quickly realize that to create change requires information and conversation. PowerPoint alone is a great one way communication tool. But one way communication, by itself, will never create and sustain change. We must create conversations and dialogue to help people make a true choice to change.
I'm off today to work with a new Client - and we are going to talk specifically about change. When they ask me to summarize some of the key lessons about organizational change, these will be on the list.
When exploring the concepts of change with workshop participants, I usually begin by asking people "write down the first six words or phrases that you think of when I say the word change."
Having done this many times I have heard a variety of responses. But never have I heard the response "Peter Brady" until this week.
When I asked why Peter Brady came to her mind (ok, the whole group wanted to know), Carrie responded. I thought of the song the Brady kids sang on The Brady Bunch when Peter's voice was changing.
So, at the first opportunity I went to YouTube looking for the clip, which I found.
I share this because it makes me smile, and because in a sappy sort of way the message in the song is helpful to us as we think about change of any sort. In caser you resisted the urge to watch the clip, the lyrics say in part:
"When it's time to change, it's time to rearrange - who you are into what you're gonna be."
Sometimes we iniate a change, and sometimes a change is thrust upon us. In either case, a part of our success with it is to recognize, and hopefully embrace how the change will impact us. If we take the Brady's approach we'll take a proactive role in using the change to improve ourselves and our results.
This week the U.S. Mint introduces the Presidential one dollar coin. These coins will be the 14th dollar coin series produced by the Mint going back to 1794. The Susan B. Anthony replaced the Eisenhower dollar in 1979. That coin was replaced by the Sacagawea dollar in 2000.
These new coins will be popular in one way - since the introduction of the widely popular State quarters, interest in coin collecting has grown - many of those quarters are out of circulation and in collections in homes everywhere. I predict the same will happen with these new dollar coins. People will collect some - perhaps more than with past dollar coins. But as a replacement for the dollar bill, they will fail miserably.
I don't make this prediction based on knowledge of coin collecting or usage, but based on knowledge of human nature. As long as the existing $1 bill remains, a coin won't become the favored option.
From the Associated Press - "An AP-Ipsos poll found that three-fourths of people surveyed oppose replacing the U.S. dollar bill, featuring George Washington, with a dollar coin. People are split evenly on the idea of having both a dollar bill and a dollar coin.
A new version of the coin, paying tribute to U.S. presidents, goes into general circulation Thursday. Even though doing away with the bill could save hundreds of millions of dollars each year in printing costs, there is no plan to scrap the bill in favour of the more durable coin."
I travel to Canada a great deal and so I am very used to $1 Canadian coin (they have a $2 coin as well). While it takes some getting used to, in the end the coins work great and make a ton of sense. On a logical level the coin makes sense - they are durable and would save the country "could save hundreds of millions of dollars each year in printing costs." But that money won't be saved as long as the dollar bill exists. Individuals would save money too with the new coin because according to that same AP poll, 42% of people put their loose change in a jar or piggy bank each day.
People don't make decisions logically; they make them emotionally, and since we as Americans are emotionally connected to our "greenbacks", we won't automatically start carry the coins.
There is no compelling reason to change (the savings isn't compelling to an individual and the existing alternative remains), and so this change won't occur.
Think about the change you need to implement in your organization or your life and think about the lesson of the dollar coin - make sure that your change provides a truly compelling opportunity - that people see something in it for them. Otherwise, if the existing options remain, don't expect your change to take place quickly.
When I read this quote, I shook my head an said "YES!" Even though no one was around. Buckminster Fuller was a smart guy and this quotation only confirms that fact:
"You never change the existing reality by fighting it. Instead, create a new model that makes the old one obsolete."
-- R. Buckminster Fuller
While resistance isn't a negative thing, only energy to be understood and channelled, this thought takes resistance out of the picture. When we create a new model that is compelling and provides an extremely desirable picture of the future, we bypass resistance build energy quickly.
Don't try to create change - create something so compelling and so new that the old is obsolete.
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Welcome! This was the home of my blog from March 2004 – November 2009. For my more recent writing to help you become more effective and successful, join me at our new blog – Leadership & Learning with Kevin Eikenberry
Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential is Kevin Eikenberry’s guide to helping you have amazing success while developing your professional and personal potential.
Welcome! This was the home of my blog from March 2004 – November 2009. For my more recent writing to help you become more effective and successful, join me at our new blog – 
