There are countless books, articles, academic papers, blog posts, and the like around things like “change management”. (One book I particularly love is Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. Thought provoking, accessible, and insightful.)
But here’s an important thing to note about change:
It’s not simply going to happen because you wish it would.
In business culture, we frequently commiserate with colleagues and lament the things we wish were different. We question decisions or processes. Complain that the management or executive teams aren’t listening, or aren’t accessible. We frustrate ourselves around the environment we don’t like, the challenges we face, the personality clashes we experience, the lack of communication or information.
The trick, however, is that we also often throw those frustrations out over lunch or drinks with colleagues….and then simply go back to putting our heads down and doing business as usual without changing our own behavior one bit.
Before change can be managed, it has to be sparked. By someone. By actions. By getting your own hands dirty.
Yet we wait. For change to happen to us. For someone else to take the initiative to sit down and think not just about the problem, but to design a solution rather than simply a compromise. For someone else to initiate and prepare for the conversation with the big boss, or pull the department heads together, or to take the team to lunch and put some tangible ideas to paper. For someone else to take ownership of the issue and simply shower us with the miraculous results for the sake of making our lives easier.
But why can’t it be you? Or me?
In our personal lives we talk a great deal about accountability for changing behaviors or habits. Wanting it badly enough to simply take steps toward making something happen.
But organizationally, we’re daunted by things like hierarchy and process. We excuse ourselves as being too busy individually to take the time to collectively contribute to something different (collaboration does indeed take time). We cite the limitations of our job description instead of embracing the potential and the audacity of fluid boundaries, of doing what’s needed instead of just what’s prescribed. We presume the executives know the issues at hand, despite ESP not really being a skill most CEOs possess. And for whatever reason, we tend to think it’s other people’s job to communicate with us instead of seeking out and in turn distributing the information we need.
Whether it’s designing a more social business or simply improving communication between departments, change has to be a verb before it can be a noun. It has to start somewhere before it can take root and actually impact the business for the better.
(As for what to change, I’m exploring the different types for an upcoming post. Share your ideas in the comments.)
So how about it? Can you do one thing today that puts the change you seek into your own hands, even a little bit? Are you willing to get your hands dirty to make it happen?
This reminds me of @chrisbrogan’s recent blogpost about doing the work. At some point, ideas must morph into action. Theory and practice are symbiotic, but one must beget the other. Each of us has the capacity to be a catalyst for change. We just need to get off the dime and act. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Solid post. Best, M.
What I find really interesting, Molly, is that we (ironically) love to talk about action. We stand up and cheer when folks say “execute”, but I think more often than not, we mean silently “as long as it’s someone else”. Especially in an organization. We’re always waiting for someone *else* to act first so we can follow, or reap the benefits. It’s the rare and transformational person that’s willing to put their own butt on the line and do the hard work to build some momentum rather than just ride the wave. 🙂
Agree totally. In laying the foundation for @WWDr1ve, I appreciate more than ever the need to have a driving mission and the unflagging commitment to showing up every day and CHANGING the status quo. I’ve been fortunate enough to handpick a board that gets it. Of course, I was pretty upfront about what they were getting into. Enough talk. I gotta get stuff done. 😉 Seriously, though Amber, all sunshine up your skirt aside, you walk the walk. And it shows.
Just saying hi, Molly. Great to see you over here on one of my favorite blogs of all time.
I tend to consider 2 ways of changing things around. The first one is what I consider the easiest implement change with your colleagues, this could changing some process, the way you communicate between each other or the way you handle project more efficiently. The second one would be to push the change “upwards” and through your managers/boss. It is much more difficult if the company has not a tendency to listen to their employees. But is is possible, I was able to do this with my colleagues in our data department, but the boss was very open-minded as well.
For both changes the main emphasize needs to be on something concrete that you will end up with; time savings, cost savings, more fun. My colleagues were more interested by the time saving part and our boss by the time saving part and the costs savings. After all if someone works less on a project he could find more time to do another one.
Overall you need to be able to show something that will/may motivate others. Being an influencer is not an easy task but if you want to make sure that your work is enjoyable/efficient and your company is succeeding you need to go the extra mile for it. Everyone has a sensitive spot and as soon as you figure it out you need to work around it to implement your change.
Nevertheless you may figure out that what you want to change for a good reason won’t interest other people, then you need to go back to the drawing board and figure out why and if you could not change it slightly to have more support. If you gain some support you are more likely to see the ball rolling and more people joining in with you, and you need to be aware that someone might come with a better idea in the process.
In my previous company we were able to change the admin/time management of our projects saving around 20% of the usual time taken to do these tasks. And most important we made it simpler and more “enjoyable”. It took around 6 months to do that from scratch to end and it just started with a lunchtime discussion/complains at the pub…
Personally I think change does not necessarily have to be instantaneously. Being very young still, I know that I have 5 years that others do/did not have to put myself in a position where I can control change. For this I need not only change but also be different. I need to change my daily routine so as to be able to be different.
Also, I find that I need to have a goal. Always. This goal might be to achieve a certain skill, or maybe to change something in my life. I think what’s important is that you never, ever give up. This means you need to really think things over before you start. Once you do, you have to force yourself to go on. As my brother once told me years ago: I had drawn something, but it wasn’t yet finished. However, I thought I could already see that it would not turn out nicely. My brother then told me to always go on, for you never know how it might turn out in the end.
Interestingly, I don’t remember how the result was any more. Maybe this goes to show that the real endresult is not everything. Half the result, an thus half the satisfaction, comes from the deed itself. By doing it, by trying something new, by discovering a new world, you have learned, so next time you might do better.
Again, maybe I just see it like this because I’m still young, and have lots of years before me, but I think the core idea counts for every age; never give up.
Personally I think change does not necessarily have to be instantaneously. Being very young still, I know that I have 5 years that others do/did not have to put myself in a position where I can control change. For this I need not only change but also be different. I need to change my daily routine so as to be able to be different.
Also, I find that I need to have a goal. Always. This goal might be to achieve a certain skill, or maybe to change something in my life. I think what’s important is that you never, ever give up. This means you need to really think things over before you start. Once you do, you have to force yourself to go on. As my brother once told me years ago: I had drawn something, but it wasn’t yet finished. However, I thought I could already see that it would not turn out nicely. My brother then told me to always go on, for you never know how it might turn out in the end.
Interestingly, I don’t remember how the result was any more. Maybe this goes to show that the real endresult is not everything. Half the result, an thus half the satisfaction, comes from the deed itself. By doing it, by trying something new, by discovering a new world, you have learned, so next time you might do better.
Again, maybe I just see it like this because I’m still young, and have lots of years before me, but I think the core idea counts for every age; never give up.
If you want to make a change, as you say, it’s really incumbent upon us as individuals to work that much harder. I recently created a blog called OneMoreStepRevolution…to inspire people to literally go OneMoreStep in everything they do. The concept is simple…when you think you’ve done enough…go OneMoreStep. Do that little something extra, and Magic happens.
http://www.GoOneMoreStep.blogspot.com I’d love your comments, thoughts, and feedback. 6 posts so far…and counting…
Awesome topic. I worked in a company ScreamingMedia where advertising legend, Jay Chiat, create an environment where people were encouraged to find new ways to get things done. If you didn’t have the tools, resources or processes needed, you spoke to your manager. If that didn’t work, you could go to Jay. But that seemed like a unique time and place. I know colleagues in large organizations today who do not believe they have a safe environment to do what’s needed instead of what’s prescribed. Lee Bryant of Dachis Group refers to the pejorative term, “tall poppy syndrome” that exists within corporate structures. People at the top tend to believe they have everything to lose from change and they’ll protect the status quo. In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, some people may know what to do, but they’re still walking on eggshells. Any suggestions on making change happen in these environments?
I was talking to a client, who is a small business owner, without the inertia and upper management to shackle his ability to change. Yet, he, and many other small business owners, with the authority and autonomy to make it happen, still don’t.
His comment was that he could not envision what the change would look like. Even with a million books on the subject.
Frustrated, because I really want to help him, my pondering brought me to the conclusion that some people aren’t visionary. They know they don’t like where they are, but they can’t see the big picture of where they want to go. They are not comfortable making change if they don’t know where they are going.
It is so counter-intuitive to some of us, it is hard to imagine. But, I see it alot. Any other ideas as to why, I would love your input! Thanks.
There are cases where someone simply likes to complain and not to “do”, there are a lot of people like this around, no doubt about it, but I feel like the hard part is understanding what role you can have in “change”. Sometimes you can’t really be the moving force of a change, but you can inspire it, or help it in some way.
We often don’t act because we don’t understand that even a small action can be a helpful one, there’s no need to do the job alone.
I think the reason most people “wait” as you say, is because it’s so much easier to complain, blame others, do nothing, than it is to actually create change. I’m guilty of all of the above as well. It’s funny though, sometimes when I’ve just *done* – attempted to create change – things have actually worked out. Sometimes this *just doing* creates change; other times it falls flat.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Julien’s post from last week – http://inoveryourhead.net/two-ways-to-make-better-decisions/ – “decide quickly, and live with the consequences.” While not entirely the same, I think his point is consistent with yours. Just do it.
Chris Penn pushes me real hard on this one too. Burn things down. Get (stuff) done. Do it. Ship.
Wonderful post, Amber – as always.
Once again, Amber, I suspect you’re renting space in my head. This theme is so topical to my week. Last night I attended a lecture by the incredible Annie Leonard, creator of “The Story of Stuff,” who advised all of us to get our hands dirty to keep the planet clean. Then today I met with event planners for The 3% Conference, my hands-dirtying effort at revealing how valuable female creative directors are to marketing to women. Thanks for the constant inspiration. You’re becoming my North Star.
Great post Amber. It’s funny, just last night (before I saw this post) I published something similar, highlighting several marketers who are working hard to change the world not with words, but with actions. Change only happens when people are willing to sacrifice and make it happen.
Great post. Often times, Marketers looses the sense of corporate philanthropy. It has been a changing marketing trend nowadays people think of going online all the time, where as change will be a good start if one can get out there and get those hands “dirty”.
It can sound strange to quote Bruce Lee but I think He can fit in this topic “Knowing is not enough we must apply, Willing is not enough we must do”.
Personally I always keep in mind, as a mantra, this five words “Don’t complain, Take Control”. they have helped me a lot during my career: Everytime something is changing or I don’t feel very confortable in some situations I start to ask myself if what is happening is a concequence of something I’ve done or it’s simply happening because someone has decided for me. In the last case it’s foundamental to don’t let it go and gain control of it. Otherwise one day I can find myself in a Job situation not very clear ad uncofortable
Outstanding post, Amber! I think you were channeling your thoughts to me as I wrote about change today. Well done!
I started to draw a parallel between your post and the recent Middle East uprising. Perhaps a rally in the lunchroom? Great post (as usual).
It starts with goals. Some people have them and some do not. Thank goodness for me sports taught me this lesson early in life. Every day we must know our purpose or we are wasting an opportunity to make a difference. Great post. Keep them coming and inspiring people to reach their full potential!
Make it a great week!
Kyle McGuffin
I too relate everything to sports. I grew up playing basketball, and lessons I learned on the court still guide me today. My recent post “Be ‘Around’ the Ball” relates basketball to our daily routines at work as professionals…
http://goonemorestep.blogspot.com/2011/02/be-around-ball.html
Have a great day.
Taylor
Thank you – I greatly appreciate this article! It’s all about extra, extra EFFORT! Absolutely every day you can find and do something that will put you ahead of the game. Thanks for writing this! With kindness, Elena