Leaders focus too much on changing policies, and not enough on changing minds

We all know how it feels if people are rude to us and yet we can so easily fall into the trap of being rude or short tempered with others.

Although commonly overlooked, taking positive action to ensure changes progress from being ‘new’ to being ‘normal’ is critical to achieving sustainable change.

The past few years revealed why so many organisations struggle with change: not the volume of change, but the misconceptions behind it. Here’s how leaders can accelerate execution and build high-momentum this year.

We love this book because it goes a long way towards explaining why our actions and behaviours often don’t live up to our good intentions. The recognition that different parts of our brain are operating simultaneously at any given moment, often in competition with each other, helps us to see our own emotions and behaviours and those of others around us in a whole new light. In our view this is essential reading for anyone who is looking to influence human behaviour or understand their own. For those who want a quick intro, the link will take you to his TED talk. 

Whilst it may seem radical to some at the moment, I think it’s likely that organisations which thrive in future may have a lot in common with what’s discussed here. Some of these themes are already in evidence, for example in the excellent TED interview with Reed Hastings of Netflix. I should urge caution though, it’s not for the faint-hearted!