The steps listed below are adapted from ‘A Seven-Step Strategy for Managing Technology Change’
by David Schneider, Esri Training Services
Change is difficult, so much so that we all tend to resist change. If you want to make major changes in your life let’s start with first things first: going solo is not an option – a team effort is required for success. Each and every one of us work better as a member of a team, whether it is our family members that are on our team or if it is a group of friends that we call our team, we need each other to make long lasting changes in our lives possible.
What might stand in the way of you making a life change of your choice?
Organizational culture – if your life is too compartmentalized it will inhibit the collaboration needed to effectively make the desired changes.
Complacency – the way we have been living or doing something has been working fine (or so we thought). Why should we change? Everything is okay as it is, right?
Bureaucracy – we have created our own manifesto. We have set up a regime of rules in our years and we are slow to change these habits, and the ‘ole way of doing things’ mentality can and will ultimately kill our new ideas for change in our lives.
Lastly we might feel a sense of futility which can be a result from the combination of all the other factors.
We add to this sense of futility in many ways.
Why change now, my life is okay, I guess.
-or-
This path that I am on will carry me through to the end, I suppose.
-but-
I am here to tell you that this way of thinking just won’t do. These change inhibiting factors will hold you back, and overcoming them will effectively help you in implementing the changes in your life that you are seeking, and you know deep down are needed.
What are some of the key factors you can use to help you successfully implement your desired change?
Step 1 - Create a sense of urgency to instill a sense of motivation. Start by asking the three whys. Why? Why me? Why now? These answers are critical to the next step.
Step 2 - Build a guiding coalition. By this I am speaking of who in your life is a representative or a stakeholder in the change you wish to implement? They will have extra information or understanding on how the changes will affect you, your team, and the others around you. You will also need this coalition to be your cheerleading section when the changes are first being implemented.
It is about building your support group.
Step 3 – Form a strategic vision and initiatives. Having a vision is easy; we all can envision a direction for change no matter the topic of the change. Keep in mind it is important to distinguish between vision and strategy. Vision is easy to see and yet not as easy to obtain in our lives. The vision we see with our minds eye can exist in an instant in our mind, yet making it a reality for change is a bit different. This is where strategy comes into the picture. It is the who, what, when, where, and why of the change. Build your strategy for life long change.
Step 4 – Enlist a Volunteer Army – if you are the stakeholder for this new change you will need your team behind you. The best members of your team will be those that will be your cheerleaders and your champions. There are those in your life that might only be a helper, they are the people that are willing to help you move the change forward each step along the way. There will also be those around you that might only be bystanders, and there might be a few resisters, and these people can have a serious impact on your level of success. Ignoring these resisters can be damaging to your goal of change. Learning how to turn them into bystanders will work, if they can be converted to be a helper all the better for your plan for change to triumph.
Step 5 – Enable Action by Removing Barriers – okay so you have created your strategy for change and you have your team established you will need to address any foreseeable barriers that might get in your way. Make a plan on how these barriers will be removed for forward progress, and by planning ahead you can divert any floods of resistance.
Step 6 – Generate Short-Term Wins – once you have got your team established, your strategy in place, and your barriers removed you should be able to set up a few easy goals that give you a sense of accomplishment at the start of this change process. Easy wins for the big win of enacting change.
Step 7 – Sustain Momentum – this might be the toughest of the entire process, keeping the momentum of the change moving forward in a positive light just might be the largest stumbling block that impedes success for the long-term establishment of your change.
***
All roads will lead to change, either you can choose them
or they might be chosen for you.
Be ready for change.
Be adaptable.
Either way make a plan for positive change in your life.
