The F-word

As I've said before: change is always personal.

If individuals do not perform differently, then (in business at least) nothing has changed. This means not only thinking about individual behaviour (not always easy, but it's mainly a matter of discipline) but also individual feelings.

There. I said it. I used the f-word.

Feelings.

When we introduce change into a business, we have our reasons. They may be good or bad, but the reasons exist. In this sense, change is rational.

When we think carefully about how best to implement change and look at the factors that we can adjust to support better performance, we will do best if apply some logic to focus on those things that make a difference and minimising those that don't. Again, we are rational.

But change is about people and people are as much emotional beings as they are rational - as Dr McCoy might say.

So if your approach to change is entirely rational, you will fail. And that is what makes it interesting. People have feelings and we need to recognise them. Moreover, their feelings when faced with exactly the same event my be wholly different. One person, on hearing that the company is replacing its customer management system may feel "...fantastic! Just what we need to replace our current old system." while another may feel "...I don't like the sound of this - our old system might be creaky, but I'm used to it."

The game, of course, is to apply rational thinking to the change, to design the work environment to encourage and support the new performance and set up feedback processes to sustain it. At the same time, we have to apply the same quality of thinking to ensuring that most people will feel as well as they can about the change - and plan what you will do for those who don't want to play.

Rational processes, applied to emotional things.

Tough to do, but seriously worthwhile.

- Mike