10 frogs were sitting on the river bank. All decided to jump into the water. How many got wet?... The answer is 3. The difference is huge between deciding and doing. Both when it comes to individuals and organizations.
7 of 10 change initiatives fail to deliver on the goals set (and when it comes to New Year’s resolutions, the stats are even worse). But why are we having such a hard time making change happen even when we know it is for the better? Expensive consultancy reports will highlight insufficient change processes, employee resistance, and lack of management support. This may all be valid, but we need to dig deeper.
What holds back change is often our own conflicting beliefs. Change just will not happen until we change these beliefs. What would conflicting beliefs be within ourselves, our teams, and our organizations? Looking into this root cause, we can better understand what hinders us from obtaining the desired change. When it comes to redesigning our organizations to more agile systems, we may have to question our beliefs about people’s ambitions and intentions. And that is tough.
Change is the essence of leadership.
