So, you’re wondering why your team is struggling with change, and you're desperate to figure out what you need to do to get them on board. The short answer? Something far different than you’re doing now. The long answer? Keep reading.
Your team is struggling because change is more intense than it has ever been, and it’s not slowing down, it’s not stopping. In fact, the pace of change is increasing. And the strategies you are using to help your team cope – they are not working.
Just look at the statistics – they’re shocking.
70%
of change initiatives fail (McKinsey)
50%
of leaders say they are not prepared to deal with or manage change (DDI)
15%
of employees feel their organizations handle change well (Gartner)
Clearly, traditional strategies are failing to help our teams and our organizations handle the relentless disruption and uncertainty.
As a leader, if you want your team to stop struggling, then you need to develop a culture where your team wants change, they drive change, and they literally ask for change.
Yes, It’s time to change how you lead change.
Why Your Change Management Efforts Fail
According to McKinsey, companies spend about $10 Billion a year on change initiatives, tools and resources, and again 70% of those fail. Now that should be reason enough right there to look at doing something different to navigate uncertainty in your organization.
But before you look at new ideas, it’s important to understand why you are failing at change. What’s causing organizations to get so little results from a problem they are throwing huge money and resources to solve?
- Change Fatigue – It feels like since COVID in 2020, organizations have been on the change train. New ideas, new initiatives, new technology have all led to people being overwhelmed and exhausted by not only the amount of change but the pace of change. People are worn out by it, and the lack of positive results only contributes to their lack of motivation.
- No Reason – For most team members, change feels like disruption rather than progress, and that is because there is no “why” attached to the change. Without a reason to change, a compelling why, people resist it.
- Project vs Process – And probably one of the biggest reasons that change is failing in your organization is that it is treated like a project, a one-time event, rather than a process, a constant in your organization. And we all know that the one thing change is in today’s marketplace – is a constant. According to Accenture, the pace of change has increased 183% in the last four years and shows no signs of slowing down.
A New Approach To Change
With so many change initiatives failing, with your team actively resisting change, it’s time to turn our approach to leading change on its head – it’s time to do something different.
It’s time to ASK FOR CHANGE! As a leader, you should be asking for it, you should be encouraging your team to ask for it, and you should be working with your customers to ASK FOR CHANGE.
So, what does that mean – to ASK FOR CHANGE? It means, rather than waiting for disruption to happen to you, you actively seek it out. You start predicting change and preparing for change, so you move from managing change to driving it. You start to control change rather than allowing change to control you.
Pretty empowering right? You move from change controlling you to you controlling change.
Now let’s talk about how you ASK FOR CHANGE.
For Yourself
Be in forward thinking mode, and schedule 30 minutes on your calendar weekly to think about how your marketplace, your customers, your team, your competition, and your industry are changing. What shifts are happening that could bring opportunity? What shifts are happening that could bring threats? What shifts do you need to take action on now?
For Your Team
Put them in control of change, by taking 30 minutes out of a quarterly meeting, and asking them the same questions. What shifts do they see? What opportunities are out there? What threats do they worry about? Then ask them what shifts you as a team need to take action on now. Put them in the driver’s seat and let them own change.
For Your Customers
And for customers, this is one of my favorite sales calls to take them on. By Asking For Change, we have the unique ability to help customers gain confidence in the shifting marketplace, while identifying new opportunities and ways to support them on this journey of asking for change. Talk about a valuable resource.
ASKING FOR CHANGE is empowering, innovative, strategic and impactful!
By trying this new approach, you're letting go of out-of-date ideas, and strategies that clearly are not working.
When you ASK FOR CHANGE, you create a culture of empowerment, where constant change is expected, progress and improvement are non-negotiables, where challenging the status-quo is just what you do, and innovation is everyone’s job!
