It makes many just want to give up...Globalization has created a seismic shift in the world economy, a fascination with nuance and rhetoric has frozen the U.S. government, and Change Leaders have become stifled by an unending flow of change management guidance, models, and tools—not to mention the unique and multi-faceted stakeholder population and cultures that impact their success.
Success in leading change is like so many things in life—it begins and ends with choice. Leaders in every LWOC audience (strategic planning teams, Boards sponsoring change initiatives, change teams, entire management teams, and professional group members who work in the arena of change) explore how just 4 Simple Questions hold the power to re-ignite their leadership and recover even failing change initiatives. Each participant is empowered with these four questions to master their own destiny—a very different proposition than the change consultants who insist on working with you to master their (complexity-laden) process until you get it right. By contrast, a LWOC Leader can continue to use the models, consulting, and tool-kits they have already invested in—but begins examining the success of their change effort by looking at their own leadership choices.
So, where do the break-through answers lie? As demonstrated in the LWOC Whitepaper: “The Select Few Choices for Successful Change Leaders,” any leader, whether planning a major change or wondering how to rescue a stalled or failing transformation project, can be more successful by passionately pursuing objective answers to the following:
1-Choosing People Over Process: “When presented the opportunity to negotiate how we will move forward, what percentage of the time do I err on the side of People Needs rather than Pressing Forward with the agreed Process?”
2-Committing to Total Stakeholder Engagement: “More often than not, have I naturally defined stakeholders as people to be won over, OR individuals whose own view of their experience with the change will determine our progress?”
3-Choosing to Measure the Right Things: “Am I measuring activity and making big bets on outcomes that will be revealed upon project completion, OR am I measuring those things that absolutely, positively help me know that I’m having exactly the impact I want at any particular stage of the change journey?”
4-Committing to a No-Excuses, No-Alibis Execution of Change: “How do I respond when not getting the acceptance we are seeking or the outcomes we have planned—have I done everything I can to avoid re-framing insufficient ‘actual’ results as ‘satisfactory’ or the ‘best we could do’ under the circumstances?”
LWOC has shaped the latest evolution in managing change by distilling the necessary leadership down to 4 Simple Questions. Asking these questions through the duration of a change initiative focuses the change leader on critical choices that define the missing ingredient in most change efforts—the unique form of execution that is required to enable a sustainable transformation.
See “Change Management Tools” for more on how to apply these questions throughout the lifecycle of a change initiative.
