ILTA’s 2024 Catalyst Conference focused on leading change. Formal change management has been discussed for decades yet most organizational change initiatives fail. And those failures have serious consequences for elephants and humans alike.
(This is Part 2 of a series catalyzed by ILTA’s Catalyst Conference.)
In my last post, Failing at Change, I surveyed two decades of reports that claim that as much as 70% of change initiatives fail. By any measure, that is a shocking statistic. Equally problematic are the consequences that flow from so much failure over time. To understand this better, let’s look at some Elephant Tales.
How to Train an Elephant
There is an elephant tale (perhaps apocryphal) that claims that the way to train an elephant not to stray is to tie a baby elephant to a stake early in its life. That elephant will try to escape but will not be able to break the rope or dislodge the stake. After many failed attempts, the elephant will give up. As the elephant grows, all it takes is a similar rope around the leg tied to a similar stake to convince the elephant to stay put even though that full-size elephant is now more than able to break the rope and move the stake. However, early conditioning through repeated failure stops it from trying again.
We humans are not all that different from elephants. We might be able to bounce back from a single failure or even a handful of failures. But after experiencing a seemingly continuous string of failed change initiatives, it is easy to believe that change initiatives are doomed. So why bother trying?
Human brains are energy hogs so they have had to develop efficiencies over time. This means operating in a way that reduces cognitive load such as making decisions efficiently by relying on heuristics (rules of thumb or shortcuts) developed through experience. From a neuroscience perspective, each new action or belief requires creating new neural circuitry while simultaneously disregarding established neural pathways in favor of the new neural road less traveled. All of this takes EFFORT and generally is avoided.
So if you are asking for a change — whether in individual or organizational thinking and behavior — you have to factor in helping your people and organization disregard their standard operating procedures, adopt new practices, and thereby rewire their brains. This does not happen merely because someone in the C-Suite issued a memo mandating change. This happens over time as people are shown the new path, feel supported as they start taking that road, and ultimately experience success.
Saved by the Circus Elephants
When the Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 24, 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and, therefore, beyond the experience and imagination of most people. At its opening there was widespread doubt that a bridge that large could actually hold the weight of traffic. It was perhaps this fear that led to a disaster on May 30 when people panicked, causing a stampede on a stairway to the bridge. The grim result was 12 dead and 35 injured.
In an effort to shore up public confidence in the bridge, P.T. Barnum marched 21 elephants (and 17 camels) across the bridge on May 17, 1884. To the surprise of the skeptics, the bridge was steady and held up nicely under their combined weight. 140 years later, the Brooklyn Bridge is a jewel of New York City and still holding steady and bearing the weight of more traffic than its engineers could have imagined.
P.T. Barnum knew what many managers fail to realize. People locked in fear or held captive by bad experience cannot allow themselves to believe an alternative is viable until they see it with their own eyes. They need a demonstration of the possible that is so powerful that it can open their minds to better possibilities.
If your people are veterans of repeated change initiative failures, they will find it hard to believe that your new change initiative will be more successful. You may need a demonstration as powerful and as audacious as Barnum’s circus parade to break the cycle of change despair. What will you do?
An Elephant Corollary
Past experiences condition individuals to behave in certain ways. Organizational culture also conditions individuals. At a minimum, organizational change initiatives must specifically address any parts of organizational culture that will need to change. Further, managers must provide long-term support for this effort because organizational culture is more persistent than kudzu and may be stronger than an elephant.
Additional Resources:
[Photo Credit: Mylon Ollila]
Above and Beyond KM 