I am getting older. I’ve started to realise why older people might resist change. It’s not because older folk are arrogant, or think they know better, or because they are lazy or set in their ways. This is what I… Read More ›
Communicating Change
Engaging people in change, telling people about change, what to communicate and when, what good communication looks like.
Look differently at ‘resistance to change’
When people talk about change, the next thing they talk about is resistance to change. They use words like “roadblock”, and classify people as “blockers”. They analyse resistance on stakeholder maps, and work out strategies for “overcoming resistance”. None of… Read More ›
Prepare for conversation
If you have an important business meeting coming up, how are you preparing? The chances are that you are preparing a presentation. However, alongside the presentation, if we are to make progress, there must be conversation. How are you preparing… Read More ›
How to communicate with those affected by your project – eight lessons from the Crossrail event
On Tuesday, I experienced change from the perspective of an affected stakeholder. The Crossrail tunnels will pass under the Barbican estate where I live. As you probably know, Crossrail is a new underground railway, which will traverse London West to… Read More ›
Real Decisions
Sometimes, it’s difficult to get a decision in organisations. Action lists from meetings are too often open to interpretation. We pore over the minutes of the steering group, and wonder what was decided. If we are trying to get something… Read More ›
The directive approach to change
“the other sort of change programme” Traditional change programs are consultative Traditionally we have a “communication and engagement” element to every change programme. The vocabulary we use is that of involvement and consultation. This is the “consultative” approach to change…. Read More ›
Make every change a repair
There’s a science fiction story I read a long time ago, where a man goes into the future, into an unfamiliar urban environment. He picks up a device which is lying by the roadside. He can see that the device… Read More ›
Strong reasons make strong action
I discovered a quote on the tag of a teabag. “Strong reasons make strong actions” it said. This is a principle of change management, from the Shakespeare play “King John” at the end of Act 3. If we are going… Read More ›
A change makes things different
If you want a change you can’t keep everything the same. Some people will find this so obvious as not to be worth stating. Many others who will nod in recognition, remembering ‘change programmes’ which are tasked with improving customer… Read More ›
Making Change Happen 