The responsibility for stimulating or coping with change does not, however, reside in just a few executive suites. We are all potential agents of change, and we all have the potential to make a difference, no matter what our role at work, at home, or in society.
Whether you are managing a major institutional restructuring, or thinking about new ways to spend your family time, some basic change management techniques might support your effort. Here are some suggestions for leading change:
- Have a vision. You may not be able to project the precise outlines of your new world order, but it is important that you have – and can express – a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve. It may be helpful to write a mission statement for your current change process, along with a list of values that the change process is intended to create or preserve.
- Repeat yourself. It's not enough to set out your vision and move on. Throughout the process there will be moments when you'll need to refocus on the basics. Look frequently at your vision statement, remind yourself of where you're going, and keep up a drumbeat of communications that express your goals and values to others involved in the process.
- Know that change is tough. Human beings seem to be hard-wired to resist change. Perhaps because ancient people were more likely to survive if they stuck to familiar choices, most of us tend to be suspicious of new things, at least some of the time. And – as America's weight-loss industry knows – change can be very difficult even when we want to go in a new direction.
- Expect resistance. Push-back is an inherent part of change, and experts suggest three strategies for responding to resistance:
“Telling,” where you use rational arguments to convince people to change;
“Forcing,” where you rely on authority and require change; and
“Participating,” which involves a collaborative effort to explore goals and values and resolve conflict. - Embrace resistance. “Telling” is a strategy that only seems to work when people already are motivated to change. And “forcing” is typically a short-term strategy that requires a degree of authority you may not have. A better approach to coping with resistance is to accept it as part of a feedback loop. People who are resisting at least are engaged in the change process. When someone is resisting, it might be an important time to pause and enter into a genuine dialogue. Listen, be mindful, and prepare to be flexible.
- Take small steps. For many people, sweeping change is overwhelming. A useful technique can be to break change into tiny increments. In other words, if you are facing resistance, propose a very small step in the direction you want to go. Once that step has been taken, reward it in an appropriately low-key way and propose the next tiny step. Fitness trainers sometimes use this approach, beginning with a step as small as asking clients to merely stand on a treadmill, without even turning it on.
- Use rewards. Too often change agents become so fixated on their end-game that they neglect the important practice of celebrating and reinforcing successes along the way. Small rewards, as basic as offering thanks or congratulations, can be important to keeping change going.
- Ask positive questions. The practice of asking affirmatively worded open-ended questions can stimulate change. Ask, for example, “What would success look like?” or “How could we add more value here?” This kind of inquiry can stimulate creativity, and the positive nature of the dialogue is self-reinforcing.
- Change yourself. Psychologists and philosophers have written at length about how one person's self-transformation can stimulate change in a community. There is much evidence that to be a successful change agent you must be willing to change yourself. As you seek to change others, listen carefully, be open to new ideas, and search for ways to more fully live the values that you are trying to convey. Be honest with yourself about areas where you are not truly walking your talk.