Change Starts With You
by Miki Saxon
“New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.”
Obviously it’s not a new problem, since the above was written by John Locke in 1690, and I’m sure you’ve come up against it more than once.
People go to extreme ends to
- preserve the status quo;
- avoid change;
- indulge a not-invented-here mentality; and
- ‘buy IBM’ (it’s better to be safe than sorry).
The attitude wasn’t original in 1690 and the MAP that fosters it will still be around in 2090.
But despite yards of books and thousands of article and blogs (my own included) on creating change in a company, too many people still don’t get it.
They believe, or want to believe, that if all the right words are said it will happen.
They keep looking for a magic bullet instead of looking in the mirror.
But the only bullet around is the one they need to bite, the one that says that
- change must start with themselves and that it starts with how they think;
- nobody acts differently without thinking differently; and
- talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words, and the actions must be sustainable.
What’s really in your mind will eventually come out, either in word or action, people will notice and they won’t forget.
Image credit: SheCat on flickr
April 13th, 2010 at 8:11 am
I know it’s part of the yard of books… but on this topic you should take a look at Chip & Dan Heath’s new book Switch.
http://heathbrothers.com/switch/
Explores this in detail.
April 13th, 2010 at 8:46 am
Hi Sean, there are some great jewels in those yards and the Heath brothers books definitely qualify.
I’m not reading much these days because I’m busy preparing a product launch, so if you would like to do a guest review of Switch please let me know.