I want to address the real reasons behind successful change. The first reason people change is that they really want to change and they are prepared to do whatever it takes. Now lots of people say they want to change: that is a really easy thing to do. Some people make a habit of it and get very good at saying it. They may even convince people. But talk is cheap and the only question that really counts [...]
Our success in business, as in life, depends upon our ability to make the right decisions. That might sound simple enough, but there’s more to it. What Influences Our Decision Making Ability? Obviously, there are individual factors affecting our decision making ability. How much insight do the decision-makers have? How good are they at unravelling complexity and seeing the real issues? To make good decisions, decision-makers must possess the capacity to see the wood for the trees and [...]
The year was 1969. The singer was Frank Sinatra. The song epitomised Sinatra’s spirit – I Did It My Way. There are millions of people who want to do it their way. And there are millions of people who fail at change. There’s nothing wrong with being independent, with having individual goals, with climbing your own mountain. It’s good to be self-directed and self-reliant. But be careful here, because there’s another truth laying on the other side of the [...]
I am a little impulsive at times and that has sometimes led me into trouble. But whilst impulsivity has its risks, so does procrastination. Ever since I was young I have recognised the value of time. I admire people who are able to cram their life full of experience and achievement. What I admire most is not that they use their talents to best effect (although that is something I do admire), but that they use their time [...]
The root of the word potential is the word potent, meaning power. Our potential is our intrinsic power to make certain things happen. Our potential for success is a measure of our power to succeed in certain endeavours. If we have an abundance of the resources we need to succeed in a particular area, we have a high potential for success in that area. There is something important we need to understand about change. Change comes in all [...]
I can’t be sure my observation is valid, but I noticed a change occurring during the 1990s. This change was focused on the word ‘easy’. All of a sudden activities like gardening or house painting became easy: dead easy. Of course repayments for goods we buy have always been easy: those 12 easy repayments were never a problem, were they?. The marketers want to attract us with the idea of doing easy things. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with [...]
The change fitness of an individual or an organisation is the best predictor of successful change outcomes. Given that change is an unavoidable element of growth (and even just survival) it is common sense to develop change fitness. But how do you know what needs to be developed, and where you should start? The best place to start is with a change fitness audit. What does an audit cover? Any comprehensive change fitness audit should begin by assessing [...]
People change because they are optimistic about the future: their future. They see things they can look forward to, things they want to be part of, things they want to share. This optimism gives them a good reason to change. There are three things we need to consider about optimism. First, it is not just the object of the optimism that is important. In other words, it is not just a vision of what the future looks like [...]
There are over 7 billion people on the planet and every one of them changes. Not once, but hundreds or thousands of times. Each person has their own reasons, so the reasons for change must number in the billions. Not a very manageable number. Fortunately for us, though, there are some patterns that can help us understand why people change. It ultimately comes down to just 3 issues. These issues are not reasons for change, but rather catalysts [...]
In the end all change is personal. And its impact on you depends on your personal change fitness. It is personal because it affects how people function, what they are expected to do, how they feel, how they interact, and how they relate. If we lose sight of the personal we are left with strategies, processes, plans, approaches, measures, hardware, software, and so on. In short, we are left with the structural frameworks that support the change. But [...]