Living continues to evolve. “New” is everywhere. Think about just 12-24 months ago. Do you remember not using an AI tool? Watching people speak to their BFFs – Jimmy Gemini, Chuck ChatGPT, Jean Claude, etc. – on the daily all day got me thinking about our ability to transform and change.
Some of us claim to love change and we embrace every second of it. We want to apply the newest tech to the newest products for the newest results in our experiences. We look to integrate, associate and elevate technologies so we can have the one supercomputer as if we’re in Star Trek – “Computer, Engage!”
Some of us claim to hate change. We resist as much as we can, highlighting all the reasons why this latest process improvement or tech implementation will be “just like all the rest.” We open the history books to review what happened in 2003 with Jack from Finance or 2011 with Mary (poor Mary ☹) from HR. We bring up the past to affirm status quo.
A position of extremism is not usually the most productive route to go; it never is, really, but I can hear some of you arguing already. Start with the alignment to corporate values. How does innovation show up if we have a spirit of resistance? Or how does collaboration happen if you impose change today and then ask for forgiveness?
In the age of AI, an organization’s taste for change cannot hide. Blaming AI for being this “beast” causing havoc to our companies is not the full story. Most likely it is leadership’s inability to agree on the change approach because of personal preferences. That’s why we’re in trouble.
Today, start simply – two steps. First, define every person’s appetite for change. Who leans heavy change? Heavy resistance to change? And each person leans one way or another. It may not be full extreme, but there is a leaning. Identify it. Share it with one another on the leadership team. In a world of PI and DISC, for whatever help they’ve been to your organization, this assessment and sharing is just as vital if not more.
Second step – Develop a “both/and” strategy. The goal of identifying the change comfort levels of leadership is not to shame, to blame or to game a system. It is to be used for process disposition integration towards organizational alignment.
We may know where we are planning to go, but we may not have given as much planning to the process of getting there (a story as old as time). By starting with everyone’s appetite for change, leadership can develop these plans with change speed expectations disclosed. When will we need to step on the gas? When can we slow a bit to evaluate and course correct? What are those “take a breath” pit stops? Chart out the plan with the known variables today.
Change is not the problem. We are constantly showing our ability to handle change, even those who claim to hate it. We shop differently than we did 10 years ago. We use tech platforms and devices in more life-integrated ways than even 5 years ago. This is more about the expectation of change and what it will require along the way. Lean into the wisdom you have based on experience in planning, organizational design, change management and employee relations. Leaders, engage!