Change Management

Change Management requires four factors to be successful. This is a commonly held and practiced belief. However, the efficacy of this belief is flawed, which is why in most cases it fails to live up to expectations.

Let me share some thoughts and explore the “what” is missing to create lasting change.

There are four key factors to engage “change management” which are as follows:

• Alignment:  Agreement to create a common vision/focus on goals

• Motivation:  Purpose (inner) to gain traction

• Belief:   Fuel (unconscious) to power the outcome

• Behaviours:  Pre-seeded learnings (unconscious) based on past experience

So, this looks reasonable and when applied, should in most cases form the platform for change. But it doesn’t work, so what’s missing?

Belief and behaviours are based at a subconscious level. In other words, they are pre-programmed as part of our upbringing and early learning process. Alignment and motivation on the other hand, are cognitive by nature and can be influenced on the day.

To make the above change management process really work, we must engage subconscious interventions to align and support the cognitive bits (alignment and motivation) by re-programming the beliefs and behaviours to ensure long term change and success.

This could be best described through the mindset of someone who wanted with a passion to lose weight or cease smoking or exercise more regularly. They know what they wish/how they want to be, are driven and motivated either away from or towards, but sadly belief in their abilities/behaviours to pull this off fails before its even started. In other words, we all know that eating well and exercising daily is of paramount importance to achieve a healthy life but sadly it’s just the lack of belief and behaviours which cause the problems.

If we know and accept that belief and behaviours are the two keys to change, both individually and collectively, then what is the reason for change at a conscious level (cognitive learning) to still be the main thrust for Change Management processes in 2024?

It’s simple. We believe, that if we align to a common goal/motivate our people, then why wouldn’t they believe in themselves and their ability to act and behave in line with an agreed outcome? I think you may have realised by now that belief and behaviours are hard wired and require unconscious intervention to make it all hang together in the process of meaningful change.

Next time you are invited to a team event where it doesn’t involve unconscious intervention as a major part of the process, try to remember, human beings are based on their beliefs and these are already pre-programmed. So it might be a good day out but you won’t keep the change.

If you would like to discuss this and other change management issues, please reach out for a discussion.