Understand that change is all about economics. Humans actually like and embrace change when it's clear it will be beneficial to them. Get the lights on first. If it's not going to benefit people directly, be honest and actively work to remove pain points for them. If you attempt to make a change that results in worse individual economics, and you do it badly, you should expect to get resistance. Read up on Behavioural Economics, especially if you're a Digital Transformation specialist.

It's fatal to believe you know what is best. It's usually far more effective to present the business situation, get everyone's viewpoint, and come to a consensus at what should be done. Listening is a key skill, and trusting other's judgement. It may not be what you think is best, but you may be wrong. Implementation is then relatively easy, with a higher chance of success.

Be realistic about the fact that engaging stakeholders and gaining their buy-in could be a tedious, involved process that requires you to clearly explain and demonstrate how the new process design positively impacts business efficiency, growth and sustainability. Provide them with real-life examples of companies that have derived benefits from similar process changes and also highlight the best practice elements that can have a far-reaching domino effect across the organization. Don't be afraid to get into the nitty gritty details to ensure that your stakeholders understand how this new process design can take the business to the next level, and by extension, provide greater growth and expansion opportunities for them and the business.

Change is hard no matter how you slice it. And it’s hard because people make it hard - it’s in human nature to keep status quo, it’s comfortable. When managing change it has to be done with intentionality and within the context of what you are trying to achieve. In other words, think about your stakeholders in the design process, is it a good mix of users and leaders, identify the advocate and the change maker, think through how you can create influence (is it data, stories, outcomes, etc.) as you move into test and implement.

When you're shaking up the status quo, the trick is to make everyone feel like they're part of the revolution, not the resistance. Start by getting stakeholders on board early, show them you're not just steamrolling changes but building something with them. Next, run a pilot. Nothing silences skeptics like hard data proving it works. And don't skimp on selling the benefits. Translate the new process into language they care about, efficiency, growth, or even less chaos. Make the shift about progress, not rebellion, and watch the tide turn.