Failed change is more common than successful change in people and in organizations. Change is hard to initiate and even harder to finish. Why? Change myths are part of the reason.
Myth #1: People and organizations change when they need to. Really? America has one of the highest obesity rates in the world. A lot of people know they need to lose weight. Most don’t. Some people need to stop piling up debt—but they don’t. Organizations have a lot of changes they need to make. But for whatever reason, they don’t get around to it, or when they try, it fizzles out. It takes a lot more than need to drive successful change.
Myth #2: People and organizations change when they want to. Most of those people who need to lose weight actually want to. Enough said?
Myth #3: Fear is an effective means of promoting change. “If you don’t __________, you’ll be fired.” Or, “The plant will close.” What a waste of time. Any change that arises from fear will be short-lived and marginal. It is a sign that bosses and bullies are in charge, not authentic leaders.
Myth #4: A PowerPoint presentation that fully explains the reason will successfully drive change. “If they understand, they’ll be eager to change.” Baloney. Somebody else will be giving reasons for not changing. And what about all the right brain artists out there? They hate PowerPoint presentations.
Myth #5: Casting vision over and over will bring change. This is just hubris on the part of the leader—believing that people will do whatever he/she asks them to do. People and organizations do not change because of somebody else’s vision. However, if it becomes their vision too, then change can happen.
So what will initiate and sustain change? Two things: people and organizations attempt change when they have to, or when they are inspired to. The leader’s job is to inspire it before the have to kicks in. Have to often fizzles out; inspired to has staying power.
It is easier to get married than to stay married. And it is easier to start change than it is to complete it. The leader’s biggest challenge is between the starting point and the finish line. What myth is holding back change in your organization (or your life)?
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Copyright 2017 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Failed change is more common than successful change in people and in organizations. According to the Katzenbach Center, only about half (50%) of significant change initiatives “accomplish and sustain their goals.” Wow—only half! A 2013 IBM study concluded that only 20%—1 out of 5—change projects are “highly successful.” Change is hard to initiate and even harder to finish. Why? Change myths are part of the reason.
Myth #1: People and organizations change when they need to. Really? Why are so many people overweight? I need to lose about five pounds. But I haven’t made the changes necessary to lose it. Some people need to stop piling up debt—but they don’t. Organizations have a lot of changes they need to make. But for whatever reason, they don’t get around to it, or when they try, it fizzles out. It takes a lot more than need to drive successful change.
Myth #2: People and organizations change when they want to. Not only do I need to lose those five pounds, I want to. Enough said.
Myth #3: Fear is an effective means of promoting change. “If you don’t…you’ll be fired.” What a waste of time. Any change that arises from fear will be short-lived and marginal. It is a sign that bosses and bullies are in charge, not authentic leaders.
Myth #4: A PowerPoint presentation that fully explains the reason will successfully drive change. “If they understand, they’ll be eager to change.” Baloney. Somebody else will be giving reasons for not changing. And what about all the right brain artists out there? They hate PowerPoint presentations.
Myth #5: Casting vision over and over will bring change. This is just hubris on the part of the leader—believing that people will do whatever he/she asks them to do. People and organizations do not change because of somebody else’s vision.
So what will initiate and sustain change? It’s complicated, but start with these two things: people and organizations attempt change when they have to, or when they are inspired to. The leader’s job is to inspire change before the “have to change” kicks in. Think about it.
If your organization needs change, put away your charts, graphs, and bullet points. Trying engaging people’s hearts. Try “we” instead of “me.” Try clarity instead of confusion. Try leading instead of telling. Maybe you’ll beat the Katzenbach or IBM odds.
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© Copyright 2015 by Dick wells, The Hard Lessons Company
…don’t just happen; not in life, not in businesses, not in churches. When an organization—or person—is in decline, something has to change for the direction to turn upward.
For Ebay, the change was a new CEO: John Donahoe. Ebay’s stock was in free-fall from a peak of $58/share in 2004 to $30/share, and was still declining when Donahoe took the reins on March 31, 2008. It slipped to $10/per share in 2009 (along with the rest of the market), but has since rebounded to $52/share, more than twice as much as the overall market has rebounded.
You can get the whole Ebay story in EBAY’S BACK by J. P. Mangalindan (Fortune, 2/25/2013). But for my purposes in this post, the story is simple: when things are in decline, something has to change. It could mean you have to change. Either the leader has to change, or the organization has to change leaders.
I have been on the receiving end of “change the leader” scenarios. Believe me, it is a lot less painful for the leader to change than it is to change the leader. So, what are you waiting for? Today is a great day to change! Get started.
By the way, this principle applies in your personal life as well. If your health, finances, emotions or relationships are in decline, CHANGE! Waiting for others to change is a waste of time that accomplishes nothing. You change! Start today.
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
When was the last time you thumbed through the Yellow Pages? I mean The Real Yellow Pages—the ones that are printed on paper and published by the phone company. Was it yesterday? Last week? Last month? Last year? If you are under 30 years old, the answer may be…never.
A recent WSJ article started with, “The phone company is selling its phone book” (WSJ, 3/9/2012, Anton Troianovski & Gregory Zuckerman). And why shouldn’t they? Fewer and fewer people use it. There are more and more cell-phone-only people (more than one out of four). It’s expensive to print and even with recycling, the paper used requires millions of trees to be cut down and who knows how much water and power it takes to make the paper.
Generally, I’m partial to reading off of paper, not a screen. I have a Kindle that I use for casual reading, but if I’m in to something serious (like Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs), I want a real book that I can hold in my hands, and I like to turn real pages, not hit a button. But the truth is I can do without the yellow pages, the real ones or otherwise. Google is just as easy to use and company websites are a lot more helpful than a 2”x4” ad.
AT&T is making a smart business decision. They understand the world they are operating in and aren’t trying to hold onto a dying heritage of landlines and phone books. For the sake of their shareholders (I’m not one), I hope they are successful in selling it. If they can’t sell it, sooner or later they will just shut it down or start charging a fee for it. Like it or not, free printed phone books are going…going…gone.
In my almost-weekly posts, I talk a lot about the pace of change in our world and how it is affecting everything. Why? Because I see too many organizations that are going…going…gone and either don’t know it or won’t do anything about it. There is very little chance that what got you to where you are, will keep you there for another ten years. The reality is, you may have only a few years left…or months.
If you are the leader, it is your job to steer your business or church into the future. So put your hands on the steering wheel and get to it. No one else will do it.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
On Thursday, January 19, 2012, another giant fell. Kodak, one of America’s best known brands, joined a growing list of other iconic brands (American Airlines, Borders and Blockbuster) that couldn’t compete in today’s changing world. AA was done in by high labor costs, Borders by internet competition, and Blockbuster by Netflix. Digital cameras and high quality home printers/cheap online printing spelled doom for Kodak. All of them should have seen it coming, especially Kodak. It’s not as if the move to digital photography was a big surprise that happened overnight. In 1999, Americans bought more than 800 million rolls of film. This year, the number will be less than 50 million.
Robert Burley, an associate professor at Toronto’s Ryerson University, describes Kodak as a “company stuck in time” (from Bloomberg.com, January 19).
Kodak’s initial response to the digital onslaught was Kodak brand digital cameras (technology they pioneered and could have dominated). However, a flood of cheap digital cameras, followed shortly thereafter by cell phones, smart phones and tablets with built-in cameras, short-circuited that strategy. Today, they are trying to penetrate the highly competitive world of inkjet printers, dominated by Hewlett Packard, Epson, etc. Good luck. To keep the doors open, Kodak has been selling what to me is any company’s most valuable asset—intellectual property (patents). It wasn’t enough, so now they are counting on a bankruptcy judge to save them. Isn’t that what leaders are for?
Everything in this world is changing: customer preferences are changing, technology is changing, and demographics are changing. Where will radio be when cars have easy access to the internet? Who can even guess what the ultimate impact of Cloud Computing will be? The birthrate in America will not sustain our traditional population distributions of race and age—what does that mean to the future of your organization? Pastor, where are the twenties—still in your church or down the street in a more formal liturgical church? Is your business printing books? What are you going to do when people go to Barnes and Noble and print their own books?
Any organization that gets “stuck in time” is headed for trouble. What got you to where you are is not likely to keep you there. Leader, it is your job to move your organization into the future, not sustain it in the past. You can lead change or play catch up. Don’t wait until it is too late—get started today!
[The January scorecard for my five New Year’s Resolutions is one A, one B, two C’s, and one Incomplete. How are you doing?]
© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
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and my One Life To Live is over. Weekday afternoons will never be the same. ABC has announced the death of the two venerable soaps at the end of this season. Both have had long lives and slow deaths. Even Susan Lucci couldn’t save the children.
The story of the soaps began in 1951 when the Search For Tomorrow began—sitting in the #1 spot with a 16.1 rating. The search got a Guiding Light in 1956 and by 1958 there were seven soaps filling the after-lunch timeslots As The World Turns. (I suppose the rotation of earth was suspended on Saturday and Sunday.) By 1969, the field had grown to nineteen soaps, but the top rating had slipped a little to 13.6 (No doubt A World Apart was making it difficult for the world to turn).
There is a marketplace principle that having an increasing market share in a declining market is not an indication of success. Both All My Children and One Life To Live had their highest market share ever (>12%) last season. However, the overall market has decreased by over 80% since the two shows launched in the late 60’s, so their number of viewers was actually decreasing as the share was increasing. So instead of a Bright Promise for the future, a Secret Storm was casting Dark Shadows that even a trip to General Hospital couldn’t save.
Last week’s post was the story of the fast death of a market leader; this is the story of the slow death of market leaders. Both stories point out the deceptiveness of market share as a long-term measure of business health and continued success. Instead of asking “What is our market share?”, ask:
Is our total market growing?Is our product or service attracting new customers (and younger ones), or are we stuck in a diminishing demographic?
Are we trying to buck an inevitable trend (cars vs horses; digital vs analog; etc.) and if so, will we make it for only five years…or forty?
If what we are doing now isn’t working, why, and are we willing to change?
Leaders, don’t be deceived, change is coming and if you don’t get ready, The Edge Of Night will become turn out the lights.
© Copyright 2011 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
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The five-column headline was Stent Pioneer J&J to Exit Business (Wall Street Journal, 6/16/2011). You may be thinking, “So what, who cares?” Well, the 1000 people who work at the two plants that will close care. Further, you should care because it is a great example of the overnight POOF! that can happen to any business or ministry.
The J&J stent story began in 1994, less than 20 years ago, when Johnson & Johnson first entered and dominated the emerging coronary stent market. By 2006, the market had grown to more than $6B. J&J, with $2.6B in sales, owned more than 40% of the market. Then in less than five years (in 2010), J&J’s sales were down 75% to $627M and their market share had deteriorated to only 14%.
My point in this post is not to criticize or second guess J&J’s decision, or to analyze what happened. J&J has been around since 1886, yes…1886; they know what they are doing. J&J is a respected and successful company, one of the Built To Last companies in the now-classic Jim Collins/Jerry Porras book. No doubt, exiting the stent market was the correct decision for J&J. The key point here is not what happened, but how fast it happened.
POOF!…in less than five years…just like that…almost overnight…a major business segment goes from a 40+% market share to being shut down. Do things really change that fast? Yes! Competitors arise; technology advances; new products emerge and existing products and services decline; customer preferences change and so do congregation preferences. The iPad and Androids are taking out the once dominant Blackberry (yes, it’s happening), Netflix took out Blockbuster, and Oldsmobile/Pontiac/Saturn disappeared, all these in less than five years. Can it happen to your organization? Yes.
As a leader, you have two major responsibilities: deliver results in 2011 and get ready for 2015. Ignore either one at your own peril. I don’t know what you will need to do to be successful in 2015, but I know this for sure, it will be different than today. Start getting ready now so I won’t be reading your POOF! story in the WSJ.
Need another example to convince you? Author and historian Daniel J. Boorstin once said, “A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you.” Hmmm, I have a computer screen I take to bed with me. It’s called a Kindle. By the way, the Kindle didn’t exist five years ago.
© Copyright 2011 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
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“The key to positive action is knowing the difference between a problem and a fact of life.
A problem is something that can be solved.
A fact of life is something that must be accepted.”
Fred SmithCEO of FedEx
One fact of life is Bob Dylan was right: The Times They Are A-Changin’.
Cars have replaced horse-drawn buggies (except with the Amish community). A growth strategy focused on buggy whips is certain to fail.
iPods have replaced CDs which replaced cassette tapes which replaced 8-track tapes which replaced vinyl records which replaced… (before my time). Something is going to replace iPods. Count on it.
Wireless-only telephone service was up to 23% last year and growing fast. AT&T is doing great, but not because of landlines.
B&W TV’s were replaced by color which are now in HD—LCD, plasma or LED—and 3D is moving up fast. I have a “tube TV” in my garage that is on its way to the recycle bin.
One out of five millennials claim no religious affiliation or belief whatever. That is 4 times as many as a couple of generations ago.
Millennials still involved in church are leaving the rock-band mega churches of their parents for candles, incense, stained glass, rituals and symbolism. Look around next Sunday. Where have the 20-somethings gone?
Whatever happened to snail mail, Blockbuster and Plymouth?
A fact of life is that significant change is inevitable. If not technology driven, it will be culture driven. Anne Mulcahy, who led the turn-around at Xerox, summed it up this way:
“Do not defend yourself against the inevitable.”
America’s Best Leaders, US News 2008
Organizations with leaders who resist, ignore or fear change will become irrelevant at some point in the future. When? I can’t say for sure. But why wait until it happens? Take action now so your organization doesn’t sink in the rising waters of change.
Come gather ’round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the boneIf your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.
Bob Dylan (verse 1 of The Times They Are A-Changin’)
©2011 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Failed change is more common than successful change in people and in organizations. Change is hard to initiate and even harder to finish. Why? Change myths are part of the reason.
Myth #1: People and organizations change when they need to. Really? Why are so many people overweight? I need to lose about ten pounds. I’ve needed to for a long time. But I haven’t made the changes necessary to lose it. Some people need to stop piling up debt—but they don’t. Organizations have a lot of changes they need to make. But for whatever reason, they don’t get around to it, or when they try, it fizzles out. It takes a lot more than need to drive successful change.
Myth #2: People and organizations change when they want to. Not only do I need to lose those ten pounds, but I want to. Enough said?
Myth #3: Fear is an effective means of promoting change. “If you don’t….., you’ll be fired.” What a waste of time. Any change that arises from fear will be short-lived and marginal. It is a sign that bosses and bullies are in charge, not authentic leaders.
Myth #4: A PowerPoint presentation which fully explains the reason will successfully drive change. “If they understand, they’ll be eager to change.” Baloney. Somebody else will be giving reasons for not changing. And what about all the right brain artists out there? They hate PowerPoint presentations.
Myth #5: Casting vision over and over will bring change. This is just hubris on the part of the leader—believing that people will do whatever he/she asks them to do. People and organizations do not change because of somebody else’s vision.
So what will initiate and sustain change? Two things: people and organizations attempt change when they have to, or when they are inspired to. The leader’s job is to inspire it before the “have to” kicks in. Think about it.
It is easier to get married than to stay married. And it is easier to start change than it is to complete it. The leader’s biggest challenge is between the starting point and the finish line. We’ll talk about the entire change journey at the November 5 Hard Lessons Workshop in the AVOIDING CHANGE WRECK session. Register on the home page!
How long is your list?
Are there three things you really need or want to get done this year? Seven? Eleven?
How long have you been putting them off? How many times have you started, failed, and given up? How many times have you said, “I’ll start tomorrow” and didn’t?
If you don’t get started, what is at stake? Is your health at risk? Your finances? Your family? Your business? Your church? Your self-esteem?
Wouldn’t you love to get rid of the guilt and disappointment from past failures?
Maybe today is the day you should “forget what lies behind…and press on toward the goal….”
(Philippians 3:13-14; thanks for the reminder, Ken.)
Whatever it is you need to do—or want to do—whatever goals and dreams you have, remember:
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