A New Direction – Challenging the Misconceptions About Change
By Mark Vincent
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As I reflect back on the past 2 years and look forward to 2023 it’s hard to imagine how much has changed. Some of it down to us and some of it happened to us and we had to deal with it….because that’s how it goes.
At Applied Change, like everyone else, we’ve had a mix of both. We had to respond very quickly to the Covid impact and we’ve also chosen a new path for ourselves, one where we can move even closer to our vision of making change easier for everyone.
The post Covid world has some benefits, more flexibility for many in how we work. Also a few challenges for organisations and individuals, such as mental wellbeing, change fatigue and retaining skilled people.
My journey and that of Applied Change moves forward with a new purpose, a determination to meet these challenges head on. I know from experience that it is possible to “have your cake and eat it” when making changes. In order to do that though, you first need to reframe your thinking and take on some of the common misconceptions when it comes to change:
💠That people don’t like change
💠That increasing change pace will necessarily cause more stress and anxiety for everyone involved
💠That change fatigue is caused by the amount of change
💠That certain types of change such as downsizing or efficiency improvements will always meet with resistance
💠That change engagement is about having a great communications strategy
💠That there isn’t a different way to do change, because it’s always been done this way
These common mis-conceptions about change underpin why the majority of change initiatives go way over budget, take far longer and / or end up delivering far less than intended. Roughly 70% according to McKinsey and others. In fact roughly 17% of large IT projects go so far off track they threaten the existence of the entire organisation.
For those of you who, like me, have been involved in change for a while (two decades in my case), none of this is the least bit surprising because we’ve seen it happening. It is reality and no-one wins. I’ve seen many leaders falling into the trap of doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome…someone very wise had something to say about that!
So the choice for me was simple. If I can give those leading change the tools that help them to challenge these mis-conceptions about change then, indirectly, I will help many more worthy change causes. That means even more positive change at a time when we need it more than ever.
If you are ready to challenge these misconceptions, to move even more quickly and more cost effectively and to make change easier for you and everyone else involved, then join me at the next High Impact Changemaker free online event.
Don’t just accept the way things are, make a real difference in 2023.
Click below to see the dates of the upcoming events. Let’s see what can be achieved together.
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