Mind Your Business: Making Business Sense
A dubious consulting industry and "profession" has developed—claiming to provide "change management" services. Those two words make as much sense together as "holy war," "non-working mother," "mandatory option" and "political principles." Many of the books, models, theories and processes on change originate from staff support people, consultants or academics who've never built a business or led an organization.
"Change management" comes from the same seductive reasoning as strategic planning. They're both based on the shaky assumption that there's an orderly thinking and implementation process which can objectively plot a course of action like Jean Luc Piccard on the Starship Enterprise and then 'make it so.' But if that ever was possible, it certainly isn't in today's world of high-velocity change.
Successful change flows from learning, growth and development. Change can be ignored, resisted, responded to, capitalized upon and created. But it can't be managed. However, whether we become change victims or victors depends on our readiness for change. One of the inspiring quotations I've used for my ongoing personal improvement quest came from former president Abraham Lincoln, a man who spent decades failing in business and politics before becoming one of America's greatest leaders, which is inspiring in itself. He once said, "I will prepare myself and my time must come." That's how change is managed.
We can't crash-cram in a few days or weeks for a critical meeting or presentation that our key program, project or even career depends upon. We can't quickly win back customers who've quietly slipped away because of neglect and poor service. We can't suddenly turn our organization into an innovative powerhouse in six months because the market shifted. We can't radically and quickly re-engineer years of sloppy habits and convoluted processes when revolutionary new technology appears. These are long-term culture, system, habit and skill changes. They need to be improved before they're needed. In the words of an ancient Chinese proverb, "Dig a well before you are thirsty."
To effectively cope with change, don't focus on change as some kind of manageable force. Handle change by improving you. And then your time must come.
Do you have the improvement habit? Are you a lazy learner? Do you act as if your formal education has left you set for life? Are you a dedicated lifelong learner? Are you constantly on the grow? Do you devote at least 10 percent of your time to improving yourself? These are both critical performance questions and personal change management questions. Your answers determine your effectiveness in handling the fast-changing threats and opportunities that are popping in and out of your life.
If you can't discipline yourself to devote at least 10 percent of your time to personal improvement, you don't deserve to be a leader. You deserve to become a victim of the changes swirling around us. Get control of your time, priorities and destiny. But do it soon. Tomorrow is arriving much quicker than before. PPR
By Jim Clemmer
Jim Clemmer's practical leadership and personal growth books, workshops and team retreats have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide improve personal, team and organizational performance. Jim's website, JimClemmer.com, has more than 300 articles and dozens of video clips covering a broad range of topics on change, organization improvement, self-leadership and leading others. Sign-up to receive Jim's popular monthly newsletter, and follow his leadership blog. Jim's international best-sellers include "The VIP Strategy," "Firing on All Cylinders," "Pathways to Performance," "Growing the Distance," "The Leader's Digest" and "Moose on the Table." His latest book is "Growing @ the Speed of Change."