#26: Changing All the Time

You're listening to the Proteus Leader Show with Erika Andersen, where you will get practical tools and insights for leading, managing, and staying ready for the future. Erika is the founding partner of Proteus, a firm that focuses uniquely on leader readiness. A nationally known executive coach and bestselling author, you may already know her as one of the most popular leadership bloggers on Forbes.com. Ready for something you can use today? Here's Erika.

Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Proteus Leader Show. My guest today is Laird MacLean, a colleague of mine at Proteus who supports change and transformation initiatives for clients all over the world. Now, Laird has recently joined Jeff Michel and me as a partner in Proteus, and his experience in managing change is one of the many reasons we're thrilled to have him. So, Welcome to the show, Laird.

Thank you. I'm glad to be here, Erika.

Yeah, I'm really glad you could be with us today. So Laird, as I've worked with you and gotten to know you a little bit over the past couple of years, I've been impressed with the combination of nuts and bolts practicality and deep human understanding in your approach to change. And I thought our listeners could really benefit from getting more insight into that and kind of how you balance it. Let's get started. So in conversations we've had, You've noticed that one of the ways change initiatives can fail is through a lack of practical focus. So, I'd love to hear more about that.

Well, Erika, one of the things that we often focus on when we enter a change initiative is the goals and outcomes we're hoping to achieve and really helping people understand why the change is needed, what we're trying to accomplish. And all those things are extremely important. However, when it comes to actually adopting the change that's required to achieve those outcomes, We oftentimes are too vague in terms of helping people understand what they need to do differently or newly. So for example, I always use the example of we tell people to take better care of their health by eating healthier food. That might mean one thing to me, a different thing to you.

Yes.

And so if you can be specific with people about saying, okay, I want you to eat one helping of vegetables per meal, you're You're much more likely to achieve the outcomes you're looking to achieve, and in this case, be healthier, because you've been specific about it. And people can really understand and grasp onto what they need to do differently if you're specific with them about the change you're trying to create.

Oh, that's a great example. And to just riff on your analogy a little bit, some people, when you say, you know, you should eat healthier food, they don't even know what that means, but they're too embarrassed to tell you.

Yes. Exactly.

It happens a lot in change where people go, okay, right, I have to help my people understand the importance of the change, and they don't really know what that means or how to do it. That's a great example. So just getting, really digging down into what exactly is it going to take for this to happen?

And it's not always obvious what those changes are either. And so it's really important for those who are leading the change to get in the shoes of the audience of the people you're asking to change And understand their world a little bit. And that might mean getting out in the field and understanding what the sales folks are going through, or getting in a lab where the engineers or technicians are working just to see what they're currently doing and to better understand then what the new behaviors are that they need to adopt.

Yeah.

So, it's really a process of understanding what you're trying to achieve, working with those folks who are doing the work that is the target of the change and collaborating with them on understanding the specifics.

Oh, that's great. If you don't know— I mean, this seems so obvious, but I know this doesn't happen often. If you don't know, if you literally don't know where people are starting from, even if you're really clear about where you want them to end up, it's harder for you to help them along that journey.

Yeah, I was just working with a client last week, and this is a client who's implementing a new computer system. And the leader of the change is actually also going to be a user of the system. And this has been going on for 3 or 4 months. And she just had the opportunity to get into the system herself. And she said it was really insightful to have to go through the challenges and the struggles of learning the system and performing the tasks that she's asking others to perform in order for her to speak more authentically and intelligently about what the experience is like.

I love that. And I think it kind of goes right into our— the second question I wanted to ask you, which is, What are some of the things— what do you think are some of the things that are hardest for most leaders about managing through change?

Yeah, I think it really varies by leader, but it maybe falls into a couple of categories. The first one, you know, Erika, you and I have talked a lot about how change these days is just an ongoing reality.

Yes.

Organizations are constantly having not just one change initiative, but multiple change initiatives that impact the same audiences. And so change fatigue is a real challenge. And I think one of the things that leaders can do to address that is to really have a cohesive story about how all of the changes are really aimed towards the same common shared vision or goal.

Right.

And people can be energized then about the work they're putting into it will achieve and pay off in some of the positive changes that are taking place. And so it's sometimes difficult for leaders to create that cohesive story. And for some leaders, it's more difficult to even tell it or communicate it.

Okay, so for some leaders, it's probably difficult to see it.

Yes.

And then other people maybe see it but have a hard time articulating it.

Exactly. And I think another way in which some leaders are challenged is in the middle of a change, it's sometimes difficult to see the the positive outcomes that are on their way.

Yeah.

It can be messy. There can be kind of setbacks. And one of the things I encourage leaders to do is listen, learn, but really have a constancy of purpose towards the change. And that looks like being persistent, means having the courage to continue to push through where there are challenges, to stand up to resistance and work with people around the challenges they're having in adopting the change, but really continue pushing towards the goal even in light of some of the challenges that arise.

Yes. The very first time I went through a big change with a client, this was 20-plus years ago, everybody was freaked out. And then the leader kind of got infected by that and just got into, oh my God, everybody hates this, and really lost track of the light at the end of the tunnel.

And that's the risk, yeah.

He finally kind of clawed his way out of it and said, wait, wait, wait, wait, this is— people hate change. We got to go through this. And it immediately had a positive impact on everybody.

Yeah, and the risk is that the leader can have doubts, can wonder if they're doing the right thing. And something they can do is really get a supportive team around them who can help when one person's down. Maybe the other person can kind of provide the energy and optimism that's required and push through those times.

That's great. So it's not all on that person.

Exactly. Exactly.

Yeah. So another thing I wanted to ask you about, you talk about the power of habit creation and change. So can you offer our listeners some practical guidance about how they can do this?

Yeah. So this goes a little bit back to the first question in terms of really having specific behaviors that you're trying to instill in people or adopt so that you can achieve the change you're aiming to accomplish. A couple of things come to mind. Sometimes it's really easy, it's much easier to form a new habit or behavior when you attach it to something you're already doing.

Yes.

And so for example, sometimes in a change initiative, people try to set up a new meeting to talk about the change so that it maintains momentum and doesn't lose steam. And one of the things I often encourage clients to do is to make it a standing agenda item on an already existing meeting where the key stakeholders are a part. So they already have the habit of having the meeting. It's very easy to add an agenda item to kind of check in, see how the change is happening, maybe present some data that will help people make decisions or guide them towards their next steps. And that way then it's not a new thing that becomes overwhelming or has difficulty on the uptake, but rather leveraging something that's already existing.

That's great. So rather than starting a whole new thing from a standing start, which is, you know, inertia, you're already doing this and you're just adding a little microhabit kind of on top of it.

Yeah, exactly. And the other thing I encourage my clients to do is to build what the behavior is or the tools that are needed, etc., into their already existing workflow. So that might look like, for example, When you implement a new computer system and you may have a work list to work through during the day. Just make it a habit to, as soon as you log up your computer, to check the work list and see what's pending so that you can work on it or prioritize your day.

That's great.

Another example from a client that I have been working with recently is they were having trouble getting their engineers to complete test plans. And, but they had a very strong habit of looking at the project plan on a regular basis to find out what's next, see when things are due. And so one of the things we came up with was to attach the template for the test plan directly to the project plan.

Yes.

So while they're in the plan and they see that, you know, this particular test is upcoming, they can just click directly on the link to the test plan from the project plan All great examples of just building new habits on top of existing habits so there's not such a resistance. Yeah, exactly. And that's what I find is the most difficult part of the change oftentimes is adding those new behaviors to your already overly booked and scheduled day.

Yes, and that's how people feel about it. It's like, oh my God, I can't possibly do one more thing. And if you can say, oh look, you can just piggyback it on this thing you're already doing, then it probably makes it seem a little bit easier. seem simpler and be simpler.

Exactly.

Yeah, that's great. Oh, I feel like we could dig into this a lot more. We may have to do a part 2. But in any case, thank you so much for this. This is a great intro. I'm, as you know, so thrilled that you're on our team. And it's wonderful you were able to share this.

Well, I appreciate the invitation. And it's very much a pleasure working together.

Yeah. So listeners, if you'd like to find out more about how we support clients to change, You can just go to ProteusLeader.com and choose the Leading Change topic, and you'll find a lot of interesting resources there. So thank you for listening, as always, and until next time, here's to creating the life you truly want.

We hope you're feeling better equipped to create the career, the business, and the life you want. For more insights and tools for leadership and management, join us at ProteusLeader.com. Have an excellent day, and thanks for listening.