On Change...

I am very fortunate in getting the chance to support an incredible company on their change journey.

This is not my first opportunity... but it is certainly one of the largest, most prestigious, and well run organizations in Germany.

As part of the kickoff, I was invited to give a speech on CHANGE... I know a tricky topic.

Now, when you mention "change" or in German "Ver?nderung", it always has a negative connotation.

As part of my preparation I asked myself why... Why is it that people are scared of change? Is that true for all people?

I did not have to look far, as my own family has a history of constant change.

In 1986, when I was 4 years old, my parents entered West Germany (yes... back then Germany was not reunited) with two kids, two suitcases, no knowledge of the German language and culture, and no money.

This must have felt scary to my parents. I do not exactly know how they felt, but I can assure you they provided me with so much safety that I did not feel scared at all.

Change meant hope! Hope for a better life... a life in freedom.

Within a few days we were sent from Berlin to Karlsruhe. We had to stay in a refugee home for several weeks - I do not remember exactly how long.

Then we moved into our first apartment in a tiny village called Schramberg - located between Freiburg and Stuttgart.

Once my parents were acknowledged as political refugees, they were allowed to work and/or study... this took us to Aachen because of its prestigious RWTH University.

Once my parents graduated, they both found jobs - despite the job market of the 1990s being quite difficult.

And in 1999, they decided to create their own company which was another big change for us as a family.

Throughout these 13 years, our life changed quite dramatically. Some changes were small, but some changes were BIG.

Most importantly all changes had the aim of making our life better.

So for us CHANGE did not have the negative connotation. Maybe, because we did not have much to lose.

Or maybe because my parents managed to communicate that aim of making our life better to us as kids.

Given my own history, I do not believe that people are by definition scared of change.

We can let change happen to us or we can use the winds of change to create a place - could be our family, our workplace, our society - that is better than the status quo.

Better for us and better for those around us.

I find it difficult to understand why so many people (this applies mainly to Germany/Europe) fall into a victim mindset when it comes to change. Why do so few people see the opportunities they are given when things change?

Maybe it is due to the fact that they have - so far - lived a fairly comfortable life.

Maybe without feeling the pain of the status quo people do not develop the drive for change.

But that does not have to be true... there are people who - independent of their upbringing - become great innovators and thus change makers.

Now the question is, how do we become shapers of change instead of victims of change?

I believe two things are needed:

1. Hope... we need to have hope that the change can result in something that is better than whatever we have today
2. Agency... we need to move into action. Without action there is no impact.

Agency does not mean running around like headless chicken for the sake of running and demonstrating that we are doing something.

Agency means believing that one can make an impact and then focusing our efforts on making that impact.

Agency means finding people with whom we can collaborate and co-create to move things forward.

Agency means critically questioning why the status quo is the way it is and which aspects of that can be changed faster and which aspects might take longer.

Agency means knowing what you can control and what you can influence.

Agency means pushing, and pushing, and pushing... to make that change.

If we look at the big change makers in the world be it business, sports, society... they all demonstrated agency.

I know... it is comfortable to sit on your chair and watch how things evolve, but we won't change our world from observation only.

Observation is helpful to understand dynamics and decide where to take action... but it is ultimately the action that makes the impact.

Depending on where we are in the org our impact might be smaller or bigger... but as we move we will have impact.

And as you move, YOU will change. With every action you take you grow.

You grow in influencing others to make change, you grow in your own ability to make change, and you grow in your belief that you can make change.

The management thinker Tom Peters once said:

"Culture is the next 5 minutes!"

I love this quote as it shows us how important every single action we take can be.

Every single email we write, phone call we take, meeting we participate in, and product feature we build, is an opportunity to make a change.

So, let's not waste our lives being observers or victims of change... Let's be shapers. Let's take change into our own hands and move into action.

#FromNothingComesNothing