People who talk about change are rarely short of conversation material. But not every conversation about change leads to change.
We waste a lot of valuable time if we get stuck in abstractions, models, bullets and definitions. Then we lose ourselves in contemplation. Only the intellect is speaking, the feeling is on mute.
Sometimes two statements are both truisms, but these truisms may clash. As with these two:
“We need to be agile”
“We need evidence-based change”
Because when we think of agility, we think of fast change and when we think of evidence-based change, we think of thinking before we start.
Where can they meet after all?
Nothing feels better than helping.
But sometimes it is better not to help. After all, your help could also make things worse. Then you help out, only to sigh afterwards:
“I just wanted to help.”
It’s an annoying job.
Assessing a plan that someone else has made.
The master plan for strategy implementation. The grant application for the regional partnership. The sheets about the Transformation Roadmap.
How can you see if such a plan is good? Especially when it concerns a complex change? And even if it is written in the secret language of a method in which you are not certified?
They are everywhere.
Whiners. Criticasters. Denigrators.
What do you do with them?
The term organic change can be heard regularly in many organisations. This of course has a lot to do with the fickleness and complexity that is typical of contemporary change.
What’s so hard is that the term is also a rich source of Babel-like confusion, which only increases the complexity of change.
So I wondered how we can prevent this confusion.
There are few people who never experience a period when life hurts. One piece of advice these people often get is that they should ‘give it time’. And for this month’s blog I wondered whether this is true.
Some time ago a manager came to me after a lecture. I had talked about change strategies and he was wondering where humour fits in. We had a pleasant talk about this. And then the cogwheels continued to turn about this.
In this month’s blog I would like to share my progressing insight with you. And this begins with the fact that there is not just one type of humour. There are various types and they all have a different effect.
In a previous -dutch- blog I have called denial for agents of change an even greater challenge than resistance, if possible. This did not end my fascination with this phenomenon.
“I always follow my heart” said the swimming champion to the reporter.
In the background her coach is standing with a stopwatch in his hand.
As it seems she also makes decisions based on the facts. However she values her feelings higher than her reasoning.
‘But with the greatest respect, I found your feedback unsubtle to say the least’
‘Sorry, but I’ve done my best to derive something positive from your proposal.’
You’ll recognise the situation: the conversation is polite. You don’t raise your voice and he doesn’t start swearing. Nobody needs to dial 911. But you know your relationship has cooled off.
I have two guests. A white one and a flecked one.
They are residing in a small hutch. I can’t bear to see it. I go to the DIY store and buy a folding rabbit-run. I assemble it, attach it to the hutch and open the small hutch door.
Nothing happens.