People Don’t Change, There Reasons Do

Everything starts with a reason.  Getting people to see change is as simple as adding two plus two.  Getting them to engage in the change is bit more complicated but if they understand this simple “ratio” to change before driving the change, the path to change becomes much more palatable.  The change ratio is a reason: fear ratio.  If the reason to stay the same is bigger than the fear of change, people stay the same.  If the reason: fear ratio is even, people are slow to change but they get there.  If the reason to change is massively bigger than the fear, who cares about the fear, it’s on let’s go.  So, before you go plugging people into the latest change model, you had better give them a reason to change.  Everything starts with a reason.

People who resist change reveal why they do not want to change in the reason they want to stay the same.  Uncover the reason to stay the same, and you uncover the equation to inspire change.  The question now is, what makes up a good reason?  The individual components of any good reason to change can be netted down to one’s values, identity, energy, and purpose.  If you want to inspire change and get somebody’s mind from here to there, show them how each of these components will be better off in the new world after the change.

Change requires problem solving every time, and one’s reasoning and decision making abilities will affect that.  People who are low on both are slow to change.  Assess for these traits ahead of time with our Talent Traits™ assessment so you know what you are working with, and incorporate these known behaviors into your approach to inspiring change.  Notice how fast learners love to change because there is learning involved.  Sometimes they change too fast and too often and are hard to follow.  If change reveals a weakness or insecurity, that can be dealt with by building the reason one component at a time.

Change models are great, but remember, any change starts with a reason so you would do well to establish the reason first.