Blog - We Talk a Lot About Change (But How Do We Actually Feel About Change?)

Location: Blogs The Change Management Blog
Posted by: Holger Nauheimer	7/8/2008 7:42 AM
The dilemma with change is that everyone likes to talk about it, but very few have insight into their own willingness to change, let alone their ability to influence change. Those who see the need for change often want others to change first. Chris Spies, 2006 It is not only the current US American presidential campaign that introduced the word change into our daily discourse. Most political but also many industry leaders use the word more and more frequently – no address on the future of XYZ (XYZ could be a country’s or a company’s name) without bringing up the notion that we need to change. It goes without saying that few of these leaders actually explain who is this we. And consequently, most who are the targets of the message We need to change rather understand “You need to CHANGE!”, or “I want YOU to CHANGE!” This is one of the beauties of human communication – no matter what and how you say it, you can be sure that people add a very different meaning to what you intended to say. We talk a lot about change but are we aware that our perception of change is rarely guided by our ratio. Rather, our unconscious mind and our feelings kick in when somebody tells us that we are expected to change. Just think of how you would react if your spouse tells you, “Honey, you need to change significantly. Your behavior is not appropriate for a 21 century marriage anymore. I am sorry, if you don’t change now I feel we two will not be compatible any longer and I will ask you to leave our marital community.” Sounds hilarious? Sure, but the messages we send to our staff when we talk about change aren’t much different, are they? Individuals do not resist to change (social systems such as organizations do, but this is a different story). People have no problems to change if they see a good reason for doing so, and if they feel that their fears are seriously taken care of by their managers. Those fears have very different origins, in fact they are grounded in our needs. Manfred Max-Neef, a Chilean economist, has described nine of such human needs. Each of us differs in what we need in a change process: for example, some us fear we don’t understand what is required from us, others are worried that they will have to work harder, and others suspect that the social bonds with their colleagues will weaken. Understanding the needs of your staff and linking the communication message on change to these needs is a precondition for getting people’s buy-in. If somebody is concerned about being left out because of a lack of understanding what is required from him, he wouldn’t be motivated when given a larger responsibility. If somebody else is worried that the change would require her to work more and spend less time with her family, a higher salary or a promotion might not do the trick. When you require somebody to change (no matter whether it is your staff, your spouse, or your kids), are you confident that you are a good role model? Can the others learn from you how to change their behavior, their skills or their attitudes? If you can answer this question with YES – you can be proud of yourself. But, have you verified that the others actually perceive you as a role model? Go and find out.

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Comments (2)

Re: We Talk a Lot About Change (But How Do We Actually Feel About Change?)	By ipshita on 7/8/2008 12:57 PM
A very precise and rounded blog. I agree with each word in it. Comprehensive "Buy-in" is a must.<br>There are 3 parts in a change process - what to change, how to change and what to change to. If we can address each of these 3 points sufficiently then we can be assured of a relatively successful change process.<br><br>Regards,<br>ING<br>www.change-ing.blogspot.com

Re: We Talk a Lot About Change (But How Do We Actually Feel About Change?)

By lkamchira on 8/7/2008 8:05 AM

Very interesting approach to the todays burning issue from family to corporations. As senior managers, we have often times sat and identified areas needing change but not changing ourselves. We have attended and arranged meetings with consultants on change. The major reason we have not yet got there is we have not yet embraced the change itself or have not changed the major things. We have not been flexible to change management itself because of strong ties like shareholding and family ties. Ageing and outdated skills have still been preserved. In one instance I confronted on change, a senior executive couldnot just let go of company finance responsibility after the company had grown and recruited a qualified accountant.The senior executive was not a finance professional but couldnot just take action to change. In another scenario, a senior executive had to instruct abandonment of a bank software for salaries just because in one month there was a mistake initiated by the bank which was immediately worked on.We need to ascertain need for change, how the hange will come in, where the change will take us to, when do we want to get there, who will get involved and how and WHY. Change is inevitable but it must be planned for properly.Senior managers must not only anticipate but participate in change program. Regards