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Monday, February 16, 2009

Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes

"Nothing changes if nothing changes."

Sounds obvious. Even Einstein's definition of insanity was:

"Doing the same things over and over but expecting different results."

But the truth is that nothing changes... if nothing changes.

Here's Dan Bobinski's (Center for Workplace Excellence) take on change:

  • People willingly engage in change if they have genuine input to the process.
  • What people don't like is having change forced upon them with little advanced notice. Or worse yet, no notice at all.

So we need to try something different.

  • According to researchers at Harvard University studying change practices in business, getting people to change is best accomplished by including an emotional connection.
  • When communicating change, "the story must be simple, easy to identify with, emotionally resonant, and evocative of positive experiences."
  • Behavior change happens mostly by speaking to people's feelings (even in organizations that are very focused on analysis and quantitative measurement.)

BOTTOMLINE: "The fact is that nothing changes if nothing changes. And maybe, if we want a successful change effort, we need to change how we implement (execute) change."

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