Change = Life, Growth, and Success

In my previous career, on my office door, under my name, there was a label-maker sticker which read;

“Harbinger of Change.”

Perhaps people thought it had been put there by someone else out of some sort of spite – I don’t know, as best as I can recall, no one ever asked me about it.

For the record, I put it there; proudly.

It is an interesting, and somewhat hilarious thing when people cling with passion to “the way we do things”, resistant to even a discussion of change(s).?

We all understand Darwinism these days, at least the most basic part of the equation – when things do not change (adapt) they cease to exist.

Whenever I observe resistance based entirely on refusal to change, I chuckle to myself because I imagine Ole T-Rex stomping around the bush proclaiming loudly, (in a Foghorn Leghorn voice);

“I say, I mean I SAY all ye minions, I proclaim, change shall Never, you hear me NEVER, be allowed in my forest.”??

Not long after that, the unchanging Mr. Rex ceased to be.

The concept is also true in business and in management.

We could call the above, the stick -- change or become extinct, but I seldom look at it that way.

I mentioned above, I labelled myself as “Harbinger of Change”, and did so proudly, not because I live in fear of extinction, but because the other side of that coin is obvious and simple...

• Change is Life, Change is Growth, Change is Success.

I embrace change because;

• I Believe in Life,
• I Support Growth,
• I Strive for Success.

Resistance to change is resistance to the stick, without consideration of the carrot(s), and it is silly, because, to quote the Borg;

“Resistance Is Futile!”?

There is only one way to avoid the evolutionary stick of extinction, change!

When I think back on specific “Change meets resistance” moments in my past, there are some oft repeated themes. ?

One of the most common responses in my experience is some variation of,

“What are you suggesting here? There was nothing wrong with how I/We did this last time!!”

I never get used to that one… even writing about it all I can say is,

“Wow, No one said or thought a word about anyone doing anything wrong.?What does that even have to do with this discussion about continuous improvement through change?”

Change is about improving, learning from last time, doing it better next time.

Maybe the responder above did it better than it has ever been done before the last time, that’s excellent, and no one would disparage the win.?

However, this time Is Not Last Time, and as good as last time really means…

“ONLY as good as last time!”?

That is actually only a portion of what I want to talk about in this editorial.

Although it is completely incomprehensible to me that people could fully understand the concept of Darwinism, and then still fight for the slow death of “never change.”?

The obvious truth is that although it may be completely and deliberately counter to life, growth, and success, it is human nature to fight change, and many will choose to do so.

A close second to the Futility of Resisting Change would be the Futility of trying to change these minds.

Which brings us to the second head of this beast on the road to nowhere.

Business management and leadership is not about appeasement.

It is supposed to be about Growth and Success!

Change is the very point and purpose of Leadership, and executing that change is the point and purpose of management, resistance is 100% predictable, (Nope, sorry, it is not a “union” thing, it’s a straight-up workforce thing.), and the job is to manage the change(s) into existence despite the resistance.

I have spoke at length in other publishing’s about Leadership Accountability.

There are many aspects to the accountability discussion, but I offer you that first and foremost Leadership Accountability must be Accountability to Change.

Not merely the new sentence you’ve added to the mission statement, not last weeks press release.?

Accountability means ensuring, enforcing, if necessary, the change(s) that will carry the business to the next level of success, and as should be completely clear from the above, again next time, and again next time after that.?

Change is life, change is growth, change is success – embrace change.

If Leaders will not be Accountable to enforce the change they talk about and publish so freely, then how is that Leadership?

What is all the gibberish about “Walking the Talk” supposed to be about anyway?

Talking about things, publishing things, crowing to the shareholders about those things is only a big bag of wind unless there is accountability and follow through.

It may come as a surprise to some C-suite and Executive board members… but approximately 0% of your workforce is going to step up and execute change for you just because you dreamed it up.?

I never like being the bearer of very sad news, but honestly people, your workforce doesn’t care one way or the other what you think or have to say.?

They will pay attention to the change(s) you proclaim and adopt when you make that happen.

Organic Leadership isn’t really a thing… just saying.

This observation on my part is hardly original, and others have studied this in detail.

Mark Murphy published this article in Forbes in 2016… https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2016/02/19/new-data-shows-that-leaders-overestimate-how-much-their-employees-want-to-change/?sh=47f7b4d162f6

Quoting Mark here…

“And again, one memo probably won’t cut it. You’ll need to invest as much effort convincing the frontlines as you did your fellow executives. And if you make that investment, while providing the why, where, and how of change, you’ll persuade people to make the transition from where they are now (i.e., the status quo) to the bigger and better place you want them to go.”

I would add to Mark’s comments, not everyone will be persuaded to “transition” even under the best of conditions, and when refusal is “allowed” or “accepted”, the percentage of refusals will automatically go up, if there is no penalty for refusal, then there is likewise very little reason to make any effort to comply.

Let’s try to draw this back to Turnaround.

If, as is widely and commonly published, 7 out of 10 turnaround executions fail to meet the objectives of the event.?

Then let’s first recognize, that 3 out of 10 Asset operators are doing a lot of things right, and one thing we can be certain of, in those workplace cultures, change is part of the recipe, and for that to remain true, that culture is being reinforced, and when necessary, enforced.

For the other 70% of Asset Operating Corporations the first question is obvious and often asked,

If last time was a failure, why are you committed to doing it the same this time? That makes no sense, and there is no mystery or suspense as to what the results will be.”

Perhaps there is a more insidious layer here, perhaps a Change was attempted, perhaps Leadership ruled…

“Thou shalt use XYZ turnaround process from this point forward.”

Yet the failure happened again anyway.

The go to, in this writer’s experience, is to proclaim the process a failure and buy a new one – flavor of the month!

More effort, and more Accountable Leadership would first investigate, it takes a small amount of effort and time,

Was the new mandatory TA process complied with by the workforce?

More often than not, with very little effort it will become obvious that it was not.?

A slightly more enthusiastic investigation from the executive branch would quickly learn that not only was there significant compliance failure, but there is also signs of individuals and sometimes entire teams, (pillars), who knowingly and deliberately refuse to comply.

So, let’s circle back.

My thesis is in two parts, and supported by all manner of science and data.

a)?????Change is essential to Life, Growth, and Success.

b)?????The predictable response to change in the workforce will always be resistance.

Therefore, if it is the expectation that Corporate Leadership are intended to steer toward Growth and Success, then it is equally Corporate Leadership Accountability to do more than proclaim; Leadership involves “making it happen.”

Mr. Rex is out stomping around in your sandbox.

Is he in charge?

Or are you?

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