Is Change Really That Hard

Whatever the case, like many aspects of our work, our success is about our mindset and how we approach the idea of upsetting the apple cart. 

According to a recent study by management consulting firm McKinsey, “70 percent of change programs fail to achieve their goals largely due to employee resistance and lack of management support.” That statistic initially surprised me, but when I gave it a few more minutes of thought, it made sense. I’ve had to address a few major changes in my career, and although I have managed to beat the 70% failure rate, sometimes it was not by much.

Change must be intentional, clear, and not just for the sake of change; it must be for the betterment of the organization.

Testing My Mindset 

I consider myself an optimist, but I’ve faced some change challenges that have really tested my positive mindset. 

One in particular comes to mind.

New to my position, I was facing a growing personnel issue in our district’s facilities department. Morale among the staff was low, primarily due to poor leadership in the department.

I worked tirelessly to improve the culture, first by giving the department leader the benefit of the doubt and doing the best I could to coach him into success. However, my efforts fell flat, and I knew it was time for a change. 

Over the course of four years, I found new leadership within the department, restructured the hierarchy, and gave internal employees opportunities to advance in the organization and demonstrate their own leadership. 

I soon witnessed a marked improvement in the quality of work and the culture throughout the department. However, I don’t think this major change in our structure and operations would have been so successful had it not been for the mindset at the start. 

The success of this transition in both leadership and department structure was due in large part to the team members who worked around me. I wasn’t single-handedly pulling the levers and making the decisions; I empowered those most affected by the change at hand. 

Some days, I simply didn’t have the capacity to push this change forward. Then I reminded myself of the why and reset my perspective. I wasn’t the only one struggling; the entire team was experiencing a monumental change. 

I recognized that instilling a sense of accountability in the staff would lead to great successes, so I spent time with each individual staff member, emphasizing that if they trusted me and the process, the department would soon be unrecognizable from what it had been. 

Most took the leap of faith, but some skeptics hung on to their begrudging thoughts of “it’s been this way for 20 years.” Regardless of who was with me and who wanted to stay planted in the past, I constantly communicated progress, whether it was forward in nature or a setback to the original plan. My communications were clear, objective, positive, and forward-thinking. I knew that even though some of my memos may have immediately been trashed, people talk, and word would get around one way or another. 

Is It That Hard? 

Change must be intentional, clear, and not just for the sake of change; it must be for the betterment of the organization. In my case, I initially used a survey to measure the climate of the department. When we were finished implementing the changes, the positive results were tangible. Absences decreased, productivity shot through the roof, and employees’ positive outlooks were evident in our discussions. 

Is change really that hard? It certainly can be, but I don’t think the change itself is—the approach and mindset are what really get in the way. But when you’re doing the work, that’s where you can really shine.