Three Ways to Bring About Change

There are three ways to bring about change. Each may achieve positive results, but the pathway of each type of change is much different.

 Change by Crisis

Change may be precipitated by a crisis. For example, a crisis in your life leads to change: you have a heart attack; your spouse leaves you; you lose your job. These events are “wake-up calls” or what is called a Significant Emotional Experience.

Sadly, some people refuse to change their behavior until they have a significant emotional experience that forces them to take a hard look at who they are and what they're doing.

An alert person would have seen the warning signs and taken action earlier. The less astute reacts after they are confronted with the change. Their response usually is to cope with the change or to try to adjust to the impact the change has thrust upon them.

This is also true of some businesses. Instead of continually improving and adjusting their products, services, and business practices to the ever-changing needs of the market, they become bureaucratic, cumbersome, and non-adaptive. That is until a significant emotional experience confronts them, such as the 2008 recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest, or other business climate issues.

The cost of changing by crisis is usually very high.

Change by Evolution

Another way to change is to change by evolution. This kind of change occurs when a person notices other people are changing, so they change with them. They adapt their appearance, fashion, attitudes, and philosophies to the cultural shifts around them. The external environment provides the primary motivation to change.

Businesses who change by evolution adjust their strategies and tactics to mirror their competitors or other businesses they perceive to be successful. They follow-suit, hoping to maintain their competitive position by not allowing their competitors to outclass them. They tweak their business model just enough to remain relevant without having to disrupt their current business practices.

The problem with change by evolution is that those who change this way often fail to react fast enough to stay competitive.

Change by Anticipation

In this type of change, the person takes a mental journey into the optimal future and creates a vision of where he or she wants to go. With a clear destination in mind, the person then compares where they are to the vision. They use the gap between the two to propel themselves into the future. In anticipated change, people create their future. They see change as a challenge or adventure and take on the change willingly. 

Astute business leaders continually reposition their business for success. They scan the horizon and keep a sharp lookout for changing conditions in the market. They ensure their organization is nimble and easily adaptable to the changes in the world around them. They constantly improve how they deliver their products and services. They adjust their policies, procedures, processes, practices, systems, and structures to ensure everything they do is efficient and effective. Most important, they adjust their strategies and tactics to ensure they are always ahead of the curve as they anticipate the future needs of their customers. §

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Mac McIntire is the president of Innovative Management Group, a Las Vegas-based training and consulting firm specializing in strategic visioning and alignment, organizational effectiveness, management development, quality improvement, customer service, and teamwork. He can be reached at 702-592-6431 or e-mail [email protected]. His website is www.imglv.com