Change

In this first opinion article I chose the theme of Change since it integrates in itself numerous vectors that I will explore in more detail in future articles.

What is Change, (verb) which means the modification, transformation, or mutation of the condition of something; physical and/or moral metamorphosis: change of attitude. A theme that has been under permanent discussion for many years and in diverse contexts, and there are many famous quotes from various renown personalities on the topic, being my favorite attributed to Charles Darwin, although some evolutionists disagree with the attribution, "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the smartest, but the one that most reacts to change".

But the change, on which I intend to elaborate my opinion, is the one that occurs in the context of a company, and especially in the context of Portuguese culture, since culture has a great influence on the predisposition to change.

Many times I came across transformations and changes of something that did not need to be changed, but it was about to be changed because it was "at the time" or it was "in need", so the first exercise that we need to do when we want to change something is to evaluate the need for change, I leave you one more of my favorite phrases "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", identified the real need there is time to start the plan of transformation and change.

The success of a transformation, which will lead to change, is closely linked to leadership, the ability to communicate and above all to the ability to manage expectations and impacts on People, because in the end there will always be Persons, that will be affected by any and all change, it is inevitable.

I do not believe in Changes by decree, I believe, however, in a strong leadership that maintains the course and focus on the ultimate goal, but also has the ability to engage and listen to as many people involved as possible, especially those who are closer to the problems.

In all the transformations I have been involved in, it was not impossible to please and gather all the opinions of all the people involved, I would say that it is normal and acceptable in the process of transformation, but I also witnessed the adoption of change in an exemplary way of many initial opponents when well informed, it is this balance and “equilibrium” that makes the difference.

A change, it only reflects the expected effect if all the stakeholders involved understand, accept, as much as possible, and above all can express their opinion, so it is necessary to produce clear and pragmatic information about what will be changed, how it will change and why, because without a clear initial definition it will not be possible to evaluate the final impacts, it is essential to measure the starting point in its different areas of action, to measure its implementation (which will allow us to adjust the plans to reality), and to measure the final results.

So, embrace the change as something normal, let us be better leaders and especially better communicators, people will thank you.

By Alberto Jorge Ferreira, CEO FUTURE COMPTA, for Link to Leaders on 07/02/2021 

this is a free translation of the original Portuguese version here: