Want to change – or have to change?
Which one is it?
Which one is driving your change?
People love making blanket statements. One I saw recently was that we only change when we think something is – or soon could be – wrong.
Is that actually true?
I suppose one could say that I started doing certain types of exercise (i.e., changed my exercise routine) because as I get older, I want to avoid struggling to stand up from a chair – or from the floor, for that matter! I suppose that’s an example of changing because “something could soon be wrong.”
But I moved cross-country – twice! – because I wanted to. Moving hundreds – thousands – of miles is a really big, hard, ginormous change.
It was done from “want to,” not because something was, or could be, wrong.
Looking at change within organizations, though, I wonder. Is corporate change always about fixing or preventing something wrong? When I look at the changes my clients have undertaken, I suspect it is.
Culture change is done to prevent a bad culture from taking root and causing problems. Technology change is done to avoid becoming out of date and irrelevant. Strategic change is done to stay current – or, preferably, ahead! – in the marketplace. And so on.
“Want to” change probably doesn’t make sense for organizations that (ahem!) want to stay in business. “Want to” change for organizations is ultimately the equivalent of change for the sake of change or chasing shiny objects, neither of which are good for profit margins or success.
All of which means our managers and leaders had better be skilled in how to wrangle the resistance monsters on their teams and lead their people through the challenges of change.
Hey there. I’m here to help leaders do change better. Drop me a note through my contact form and we’ll set a time to have a conversation – not a sales pitch!