Future businesses are built on the shoulders of the past.

So, it’s smart to learn from the successful business experiences of the past and skip the mistakes.


Part 2 – Adapting Successfully to Change

Chapter 4. Tips from the Experts

Change is hard. The experts agree.

Much has been written about “change management.” Many books and consultants provide guidance. Yet human nature resists.

People resist change. Organizations stifle change. People cling to the old ways, finding a million excuses to delay and rationalize why the new approach isn’t a good idea.

In this chapter, we’ll highlight some useful tips from the experts.

Chip and Dan Heath in Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard (Powell’s Books 2010) provide an easy to understand explanation of the psychology and recurring patterns in change initiatives, together with lots of real world examples.

Remember that New Year’s resolution to lose weight and get in shape that usually fades after a couple of weeks as you fall back into your old habits?

Well, according to Chip and Dan, the pattern goes something like this:

To be successful, you have to influence your rational side (which they call the “Rider”) as well as your emotional side (which they call the “Elephant”) and you have to change the situation (which they call the “Path”).

You direct the Rider with specific goals (logical).

You motivate the Elephant with engaging tactics (to avoid reverting to the easiest and most familiar path).

You shape the Path forward with specific instructions (to change the situation).

So your good intentions to lose weight and get in shape run out of steam unless you engage your emotional commitment and actually start acting differently. Some specific behavior has to change or you fall back into your old patterns. Behavior changes may be as simple as buying low fat milk or not having ice cream in the freezer so that you reduce the temptation to indulge.

Switch is full of real world success stories. For example, a change program was effective in restructuring corporate purchasing practices, not with charts and graphs, but with a huge pile of work gloves purchased from all sorts of vendors and at all sorts of prices, demonstrably showing the waste and engaging the management team in the solution. A change program to address malnutrition in Vietnamese children was effective because it built on the “bright spots” – adopting the cooking habits of the mothers whose children were thriving.


There are other points of view that bring helpful perspectives.

William Bridges in “Managing Transitions” (Da Capo Press) talks about how managing transitions is the key to dealing with change.

Change is the outcome – transition is how we accomplish it. He describes transitions in three phases: endings – neutral zone – and finally, new beginnings.

Endings –
This is like the grieving process. People experience a broad range of emotions in letting go, including denial, anger, sadness and fear. Letting go is necessary to move on.

Neutral zone –
This phase is characterized by confusion and uncertainty. I think of this as letting go of the “branch” that you’re on (status quo), before having a good grip on the next “branch.” As uncomfortable as it is, the neutral zone is “where curiosity, inquiry, and research emerge, gradually replacing the fear, anxiety and angst.”

New beginnings –
Emerging from the neutral zone is characterized by a surge in new energy and initiatives.

So, to accomplish change we have to consciously work through the human side of the transition.

In addition, attitude is important. Mike Ballard, Executive Director of Turning Points Institute, says, “If you see change as an opportunity, the chances of making a successful transition increase exponentially.”

History also gives us some lessons about the importance of change. Alan Beattie’s book “False Economy – A Surprising Economic History of the World” (Riverhead Books 2009) describes numerous examples of the ability to adapt to the changing environment as critical to economic development (e.g., the U.S. democracy and capitalism system).

Similarly, he describes how the failure to adapt leads countries, cultures, religions and companies to “ossify” and decline (e.g., Argentina and Islamic countries).

According to Beattie, the economic underperformance of Islamic countries is not so much tied to the religion itself as it is to the “actions of priests, politicians, monarchs and bureaucrats exploiting religious doctrine to pursue thoroughly temporal goals of wealth and power.” Beattie points out that “The prophet Mohammed was, after all, a trader before he was a preacher. And Islam is the only major religion to be founded by a trader.”

In the 21st century, change is coming faster and faster.

Companies that successfully transform themselves and implement innovations have some common characteristics, according to Harvard Business School Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter in “Transforming Giants.” (Harvard Business Review 2008). Kanter identifies two key factors: infrastructure and shared values stressing social good.

Kanter likens the “infrastructure” that is needed to support innovation to the infrastructure in cities. She says “standardized management practices and technologies in companies are the equivalent to infrastructure in cities: they allow people to stop wasting time on basic activities and focus on higher order concerns.” For example, she talks about how CEMEX, a cement manufacturer, color-coded the pipes in its plants so that it was immediately obvious to workers which pipes were carrying what. This inexpensive improvement in infrastructure eliminated many errors and enabled greater productivity.

Kanter talks at length about the importance of shared values – aligned with social good – as enabling transformation. Younger workers especially want a meaningful connection between their work and a better world. Employees are looking for more meaning in their work – connecting their work to making “the world a better place.” Shared values stressing social good “inspire intense creativity that sparks beneficial and profitable innovations.”

Being authentic means that there’s a clear link between the company’s purpose and its good works.


Whether you’re operating on a global or local basis, you can find ways to do good works that benefit your community and your business.