Thread by @MySuccessTheory

How to stop fearing change and how to lead yourself and others through it.

//THREAD\\

To frame this thread lets start with this quote:

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."

-Lao Tzu

In life, when you come up against a large or substantial change, you are more likely than not going to resist that change.

You will probably hesitate and think, "oh no, I don't want to do that."

It is the same within an organization as it is with your own habits.

Reality is reality, the organization you are part of is heading for a massive restructuring, or you have been eating poorly and drinking too much, and you're feeling awful.

These events mean change is coming, or change is already here, and you have to react.

How do we understand how change works?

The graphic below shows two change models layered on top of each other.

I find these helpful not only for understanding change in organizational structures but also in my personal life.

The first model in the picture above is the red line, and that is "Gartner's Hype Cycle," and the second model which shows Innovators and Early Adopters is "Geoffrey Moore's Chasm"...

Both of these match together well, as you can see that you will have few people involved at the start of change, but enthusiasm is high.

Next, you'll hit a dip, and once you get past that, you will get into the "slope of enlightenment," and then everyone else joins in.

The most important part of any change is the "chasm," the "trough of disillusionment" because this is where a lot of change fails.

This may be where new procedures and policies fail in an organization, and people revert back to the "old ways."

This area can hurt us personally, too. Think of when you start a new habit

Your enthusiasm is through the roof, and you're enjoying the new habit of going to the gym at 6 AM, meditating every night before bed, whatever it is; after about a week or two, you experience that dip...

Habit gravity kicks in, meaning you or the organization are pulled back towards what you used to do.

Getting stuck in the "chasm" means the change, the new idea, the new habit does not last and does not become embedded and part of the organization or your routine.

This is where you as a leader need to support yourself or in an organization to empower the "innovators" and "early adopters" to pull more people in from the "early majority", that way you can narrow the "chasm."

In my experience, you also need to continue to uplift those "early adopters" so that they don't become disillusioned as well.

And how do we do that?

You make the change look easy and accessible.

This works for your habits as well, make it easy for you to change.

You may think, well that doesn't seem hard to do, and it isn't, on paper but organizations still aren't doing it.

You still are not making big changes stick in your life.

All because you and many organizations are not making things easy for people or you to change.

In many organizations they give out a handbook to teams and say, you've been trained.

No, follow-up, no step-by-step process, no one focusing on implementation.

You do the same in your life, read a new book, and then don't make it easy to implement the changes in your life.

"The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence. It is to act with yesterday's logic."
-Peter Drucker

I want to close this thread with this quote and again emphasize the power of simplifying change and creating a sense of calmness during turbulence...

This is the same in our personal life. You can't depend on the thinking you did six months ago.

If you want to make a change, whether in your personal life or in an organization, make it really simple.

The easier it is, the more you can lean into it and move past the "chasm."

Understanding how change works by using these models will help you overcome barriers that will come along.

Understanding how change can affect you and the people around you is the key to encountering it confidently.

If you are looking for support with self-leadership or team leadership, DM me the word LEADER, and let's see if we are a good fit to work with each other.

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