Leading change initiatives (technology, culture, and process improvement) is challenging. It is challenging for many reasons. The main one is that our enemy ‘Status quo’ is very strong.
For instance, the ‘Status quo’:
- Provides comfort to the staff. So, if nothing is changing, staff does not need to do any extra work. They feel secure in Business As Usual.
- The status quo keeps the staff busy by indulging staff in frequent daily issues and drama.
- With each new proposal for change, it often throws a blanket of uncertainty.
As transformative leaders, we often have an opportunity to share the dirty face of our enemy, the’ Status quo’.
For example, consider the following examples stating facts about the ‘ Status quo’:
- Our organisation’s productivity is less than the industry average by 10%.
- If nothing changes, our organisation may not continue to be in the business.
- We are wasting $150K/month due to the lack of utilisation of our business systems.
So, the idea is to state facts about the Status quo and make it look so bad that our staff and management fully support our new change initiatives.
