“Change almost never fails because it is too early. It almost always fails because it is too late.”

— Seth Godin

Your life owes its greatness to change. If you lead a thriving enterprise, your debt is no different. Change makes you what you are. Change makes possible what matters most to you.

Yet, if Seth Godin is right, and he usually is, then most failure around change is avoidable as long as one rule is exercised: Don’t be late.

(You’ve probably said those three words to someone yourself. We understand the importance of being on time. Who knew Change was saying the same to us?)

WHY WE ARE LATE

1.    Poor Attitude: How many times have you heard someone say “I don’t like change”?

It isn’t true. Just this morning, I changed my socks, and I’m glad I did. When the stop light stayed red, I told it to change. I was once on my own, then I met Audrey. I changed my relationship status from single to married, and I’m ecstatic about it. Together, we decided to change from the two of us to a three of us and brought our son into the world. We liked that so much, we decided to do it again.

I am a consultant and fractional CIO. I have had different jobs in my life. I changed jobs until I developed into what I do now. Develop is an important word. People embrace change that moves their life forward.

2.    Bad Sense of Direction: How many times have you experienced change and felt like you just took a step back?

Too many times. The change people love only has one direction. Change is toward fulfillment. If something is not true of me now, but once it is true will make me better, than I want it now. Or, as Billy Crystal said to Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

This is key for change in your company. Does the proposed change lead us toward fulfillment? And, “How does this change move affected individuals toward fulfillment?” Both are equally important, but the latter is most often overlooked. Everyone involved in the change process must, while in the process, believe that they are moving toward personal fulfillment.

3.    Misplaced Fear: Procrastination is a fancy word for not facing our fears. So is resistance.

When you meet people who fear change, who have grown satisfied with their level of success, who draw the curtains against outside exposure and ignore growing realities that can affect your business, you meet someone whose fear is not in change, but in what change will expose of them.

This is why some change initiatives fail before they begin: They start with something wrong, born in crisis, representing a failure, so that the result is couched not in forward progress but in urgent relief. By its very nature, this change initiative produces anxiety and frustration. It’s not a climate of change in which we all get to grow; it’s a storm that we already know will leave us battered and wet.

4.    Head Games: You can have all the facts in order, and still be out of order.

The business case won’t change anything. Imagine you walk into a meeting dressed as a briefcase, your arms and legs protruding, your head where the handle should be. It’s the picture everyone has of you when you try to convince them of a need to change based on facts alone. You are a walking case, with facts I do not yet have, that I may or may not adopt as my own.

Now imagine that you walk into that same meeting, dressed as yourself, but that you personify change. You carry a case into the meeting. The case is important, and what is in the case is a strong argument, thoroughly thought through and fully supported. But it is not the whole of what you bring. You bring you, including your emotional self, which is already in tune with your audience. We all share the same emotions. Emotions will open up a person to your facts and ease acceptance of your conclusions. Engage my emotions, communicate to my needs, and point me toward what is compelling not just convincing, and now I will help you solve a problem.

Head games, lining up our facts, engaging in argument and counter-argument, only delay. Emotions hasten.

CHANGE ON TIME NOT JUST IN TIME

My next post will discuss the essential of creating a change culture. But talk to me first:

• Which of the above have given you the most trouble when trying to implement change: people’s attitude about change, lack of fulfillment in change, fear or lack of emotional engagement? What did you experience?
• What questions about change come to mind that you would like me to address?

I appreciate your response!