Accelerating Business

Sir Isaac Newton postulated, “A body moving in one direction will continue in that direction unless a force is applied to change that direction”. Lets make one small change to Newton’s famous law of physics. Lets exchange the word “body” for the word “organization” and we have, what we might call, a law of organizational behavior. “An organization moving in one direction will continue in that direction unless a force is applied to change that direction.” To effectively change the direction of a business organization we must influence the people in the organization to change their direction, that is, their behavior, processes, priorities, and work habits. The most effective way to accomplish this is to motivate them to make the change. The most effective way to motivate the organization to change is to give them a new compelling attraction to work towards. The Compelling Attraction is a detailed explanation, a mind’s eye picture, of the desired end result of the new business strategy. The description should be as detailed as possible including such things as new marketing or sales plans, new products offerings, new production plans, new technology applications, new business processes, new job roles, or the details of a new organization structure. The mind’s eye picture should be as detailed as possible. As a minimum, the Compelling Attraction should provide everyone with a detailed understanding of the desired outcome of the new business initiatives. I am not suggesting that the people in the organization only need to be told the destination and all your implementation challenges will be solved. This is one ingredient – a potentially potent ingredient. There is still a lot of change management required. However, a detailed compelling attraction will help accelerate adoption, reduce rejection behavior and provide a platform for smoother transitions. The detailed mind’s-eye picture of the compelling attraction should address several aspects: · The compelling attraction should clearly outline the benefits of the new strategy, for the business as well as for the people involved. This explanation should be sufficiently detailed so the effected people in the organization can identify how their department or they personally will be impacted and benefit. Not all quantifiable details will be known in early planning stages but the benefits should be described as best as possible. · A detailed picture of the compelling attraction will reduce the unknown, reduce the associated anxiety and take the first steps of avoiding organizational resistance to the new business plan. One of the largest factors that create resistance to change is the anxiety created from not knowing what lies ahead. This is perhaps the most important element of the compelling attraction. Large parts of the population will gravitate toward the known, even at a cost of overtly ignoring new instructions, rather than step into uncertain futures and unknown outcomes. People often find comfort in the predictability of their daily routines. To get them to become more comfortable with a new business structure or model, it is important to reduce their anxiety, by painting a detailed picture in their mind’s eye, of the expected outcome. This mind’s-eye picture allows the impacted people in the organization to see their role, their fit, and their personal situation in the new business strategy. · Some people are ill at ease with change and will always prefer the comfort of the status quo. The compelling attraction needs to outline the unattractive projected future if the organization remains on the existing path. Your description will point out the problems with the status quo and help encourage this portion of the population to be open to considering new alternatives. · A compelling detailed picture can not only help avoid organizational resistance, but can also initiate early support and motivation for the new business strategy. In almost all cases there are some people in the organization who are always looking for better solutions. For these people the compelling attraction should demonstrate why the chosen business strategy best fits the market, the competitive environment and the organizational situation. The Compelling Attraction can encourage these people to become advocates and active supporters. · A detailed picture will provide one common understanding and interpretation of the desired end point. The mind’s eye picture of the compelling attraction requires considerable detail. If you introduce new ideas without sufficient details, you will allow everyone to interpret the new ideas and visualize the details with their own perspective. Every person will have their own different interpretation, focused on themselves, often assuming the worst impact for themselves, and germinate the seeds of reluctance rather than support. Although a lot of people will likely try to understand how the new strategy will impact the business, human nature will result in everyone interpreting how they will be impacted personally. If you don’t provide a detailed picture they will create one in their own mind. One common understanding and interpretation will provide a foundation for aligned implementation activities later. A detailed picture will not create instant support, but it will help avoid later delays due to confusion or misunderstanding.