Change Initiatives and Leading Change
"Every organization must be prepared to abandon everything it does to survive in the future."
- Peter Drucker
It may seem, well, silly, but Silly Putty continues to fascinate and inspire us all to be like it when it comes to change, adapting, flexibility and acting.
Silly Putty is not always right, mind you, but it knows how to roll with the punches, take chances, fail fast, learn from its mistakes and move forward to become something else that might work in any given situation.
Sometimes, we just want to kiss it. Sometimes, we just do.
Our challenge for leaders is for you to reason intelligently about flexibility, adaptability and change. It really all comes down to survival ... that seems to be a topic worthy of your constant attention.
When we are asked if we can guarantee that we will be successful in helping organizations navigate the rough waters of leading and sustaining change, we point out the following statistic: 70% of all change initiatives fail! And yet, organizations keep leading change the same old way.
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
- Albert Einstein
So, the first thing is to understand and respect the challenges inherent in leading change. And, the second, is to change yourself and the way you have always gone about leading change.
Catch Your Limit's mantra is: Before you can lead change in others, you must lead change in yourself.
Without the need for change there would be no need for leadership. So, our change initiatives are all about leadership: understanding the emotional and logical dynamics of change and how to take the lead in reaching the needed outcomes as well as making them stick.
We always say, if Silly Putty can do it, why can't we. Then we add, but it is not as easy or silly as it seems, and that how we lead change is a matter of survival.
The Catch Your Limit Way
Our go to approach for initiating and sustaining change is based on John Kotter's Eight Step Change Model, building strong, cohesive catalyst teams and teaching, understanding and guiding the strategies that focus on both the emotional and rational aspects of change.
SET THE STAGE
- Create a Sense of Urgency.
Help others see the need for change and the importance of acting immediately. - Pull Together the Guiding Team.
Make sure there is a powerful group guiding the change—one with leadership skills, bias for action, credibility, communications ability, authority, analytical skills.
DECIDE WHAT TO DO
- Develop the Change Vision and Strategy.
Clarify how the future will be different from the past, and how you can make that future a reality.
MAKE IT HAPPEN
- Communicate for Understanding and Buy-in.
Make sure as many others as possible understand and accept the vision and the strategy. - Empower Others to Act.
Remove as many barriers as possible so that those who want to make the vision a reality can do so. - Produce Short-Term Wins.
Create some visible, unambiguous successes as soon as possible. - Don't Let Up.
Press harder and faster after the first successes. Be relentless with instituting change after change until the vision becomes a reality.
MAKE IT STICK
- Create a New Culture.
Hold on to the new ways of behaving, and make sure they succeed, until they become a part of the very culture of the group.
Change Initiatives We've Guided
- Organizations S/M/L/XL
- For Profits
- Not for Profits
- Creative Strategy and Business Classes at Florida State University
- Catch Your Limit Lab: We are changing, rearranging, and evolving every day, every step of the way!
- The Catch Your Limit Challenge and other Leadership Development Initiatives
