Doing Change Is Easier For Some Than Others!

Why is it that some of us find change hard, and for others it's just part of the job? To answer this, let's look at what attracts us to a job in the first place. For many of us, our job keys into deeply held belief systems. It may be too strong to say we all have a vocation. But in choosing one career over some other we have often unconsciously responded to some fundamental driver. Becoming a banker may have attracted us because we found money and finance inherently fascinating; or we may have seen finance as a route to becoming rich. A civil engineer may have found the challenges of major construction projects quite awesome as a child (I am still fascinated by observing skyscrapers during the construction process!). A nurse may be responding to a deeply held desire to help and care for people in need. A surgeon may have found the challenge of repairing human tissue and bone both exciting and satisfying.

So, many people - perhaps, arguably, most people -are attracted to a job because of its content. Nurses want to nurse; surgeons want to repair and reconstruct; bankers want to do deals and create financial innovation; engineers want to build.

In our initial encounters with our jobs, what excites us is learning about the job and, simply, just doing it. We are less interested in how the job might be done differently. This is not surprising, since we don't have enough experience.

Yet, even with experience, some of us still want only to "do" and have little interest in exploring alternative ways of "doing". Such people are focused on the job's content and not much (or not at all) on how the job is done. But they are most often very committed and are often - and rightly - seen as stars in their chosen line of work.

Such individuals are held up as exemplars. And that is just fine. Mozart wasn't interested in finding a better way of composing. He just composed.

Enter, now, the change agent or change consultant, intent on finding more effective or more efficient ways of operating a business. The change may be seen as critical to improving customer service, or even to ensuring the survival of the business.

However, changing what happens is changing what real people do. Change agents tend to use words like "process", "outcome" and "benefit". Those people whose focus is on the job and its content will often find this language profoundly threatening and alien. If change agents in organisations don't recognise this, those whose only focus is the job and its content may well find such language a real and significant deterrent to engagement in change.

Such antipathy to the language of change also extends to the language of change measurement. Measuring the effect of change is bread and butter to change agents; it's the way to determine if change has been successful. But words like "metric", "benefit" and "value" often sit uneasily in the lexicon of those whose sole focus is job content.

The language of change therefore begins to assume characteristics that many who need to be motivated by change will resist: "benefit" sounds like it's to do with money, and "outcome" may feel like the language of the annual appraisal. Change Programme Managers, fresh from a course to learn about change, may also feel uncomfortable talking the language of change, thus impacting their credibility and their authenticity as a change leader. "She's been on a course - watch out" is a cynical but not uncommon cry from team members that will quickly reinforce dislike of change. These difficulties can combine in real situations to seriously compromise the possibility of success in change projects.

Change leaders must therefore find approaches to change that avoid such traps. A starting point is to think about job content first. Demonstrating that you are serious about understanding what a professional's job is, and showing interest in its nuances is a great starting point for gaining acceptance. Only then can you begin to lead a team's thinking around how they can find better and more productive ways of operating.

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