Spare Change Never Adds Up

“How do I know you guys can cause real, lasting change?”

That’s one of the questions I received from a potential new client’s Chief Financial Officer; a man who is, shall we say, a confirmed skeptic about leadership development and team-building programs. Money types like him are often paid to be skeptics. Skepticism is good, on the rare occasions when it is accompanied by an open mind.

My new skeptical friend went on to explain: “I’ve been to a bunch of these feel-good sessions before. They don’t do any harm, and some of them are pretty good. But after everyone returns from ‘the mountaintop,’ they quickly revert to their old styles and nothing changes.” Boy, do we agree on THAT.

I asked him if he had an explanation for “that.” He didn’t quite understand my question. I clarified: “Why is it that these types of investments you make in the people who you claim are ‘your most important asset’ fail to achieve an acceptable rate of return?”

Now he understood. I was talking his language: dollars and sense. Asset utilization. Payback.

Let’s get some answers to this question right now. Why do most change management programs fail, especially those dealing with changing individual and team behavior? Why is it so hard for us to CHANGE?

That’s a big question, deserving a big answer, but here’s a quick way to think about it. There will be NO CHANGE without real, hard, work. SPARE CHANGE, as in making a minor, or “spare” effort to get major results, is a waste of time and money. Cut those programs. They actually do lots more harm than wasting time and money; they make people cynical about the POSSIBILITY of transformation.

Let’s get real.  Managing change is about leading a process of four dimensions that must be present or NO CHANGE will come about. Here’s how we do it:

1.) DISCOVERY: When you work with BUILT TO LEAD you will clarify and build a strong CORE, with a vivid, compelling vision and purpose for your life that draws a new portrait of who you are, where you’re called, and why you’re here. Armed with a fresh perspective about the meaning and purpose of your life, you’ll be able to discern how you will choose to live and work. No discovery, no change.

2.) DISTURBANCE: When you slow down and take stock of where you are against where you want to be, you may be lucky enough to be disturbed at the conditions within your Current State. If you don’t want the Current State to be your final story, if you are  dissatisfied with that prospect, change is possible. This is the heart of change. No disturbance, no change.

3.) DREAM: When you define the new story and new purpose of your life, a new dream will emerge for what is possible; what you want your final story to be. The uninformed dismiss dreams as fantasies, but “dreamers of the day” are dangerous people. Indeed, they are the only people in history to have brought about change. Dream big, and you will see the distinction between your Current State and your Dream State. If the gap is large enough, change is possible. No dream, no change.

4.) DO: Energized by a vivid, compelling dream, your “Builder’s Journey” begins. When your identity and purpose align with your Productive Actions, you will be filled with a passionate discipline to undertake the right sequence of steps to achieve your dream. Each will be real, hard, work AND it won’t seem quite like work as in “toil.” It will be OPUS, as in “masterwork”–the PRACTICE and pursuit of your unique and authentic story. AND the best practice is always done with others in a community committed to positive change in individuals and teams. But beware; no practice, no change.

All four of these dimensions are a SYSTEM of transformation. Every one of them is necessary; each one of them alone is insufficient. They can be applied to individual, team, and leadership transformation. We maintain that this is the ONLY path to true transformation.

That’s why the best-intentioned, most elaborate two-day offsite seminars offering tips about becoming a better individual, team, or leader almost always fail to deliver real change and sustained performance improvement. BUILT TO LEAD knows this. It’s the reason that our framework is called The Essentials of Excellence, and not “The Techniques of Sucking Less.”   We know it takes months and years of real, hard, work to master real, lasting change.

Are you buying this?

How robust has your return on investment been in managing transformation and change?

Are you courageous enough to discover your potential?

Are you disturbed by your current state of affairs, at home and at work?

Are you dreaming big, or playing small?

Is it “done so” or “getta round tuit?”

WHY?

WHEN?