Do you like to go on vacation? I do. Enormously. And when I talk to my friends and family they all love it too. And what they normally say is that ‘this is a nice change’; ‘to break out from the routine’; they “like the change of scenery” and they really enjoy it. So it made me start to think. Why are we so positive about this kind of change that we are actually looking forward to it? Is it because we can go back to our routine afterwards? What we normally bring back from a vacation are experiences, stories and even new friends. We might have changed our perspective of things and change the way we think about our own life, country and lifestyle.
But why don’t we resist this kind of change? Why do we actively look for the positive change? Because we have initiated this change. We were the ones that picked the location, the accommodation, the spot, the experiences, the journey. We were involved in the design of this positive change. We saw, even before we booked the trip, what is in it for us, the benefits, the advantages.
I think this quick analysis describes, quite well, what is missing when an organisation wants to push through change initiatives – it often forgets to take the people on board before they start the journey. We all want to know what is in it for us. What do we gain, what is our benefit of following and managing this change. And this can only be properly translated with a great vision of why the change needs to happen. However, this vision needs to show a sustainable path for the company that people want to walk along with their colleagues. There might be bumps in the road and sometime huge puddles or even powerful streams that need to be crossed; but with a good leadership team that pick up their people when they stumble, help to build bridges along the way and passionately sharing their vision, people will feel empowered and engaged in this journey.
Despite all the further research and development, the fundamental elements of the change process have not changed – which, for once, is a consistency:
Create a sense of urgency - make it relevant to everyone
Form a powerful coalition - with everyone in the organisation
Create a vision for change
Communicate this vision - consistently at all levels
Remove obstacles - build bridges and pick up your people when they stumble
Create short term wins
Build on the change
Anchor the way you change in your culture.
Our wellbusiness™ brand has been created with one big key element in mind – positively changing the way we work together.