Food for Thought

In 1975, a Kodak engineer went to the company’s leadership and described what he had created—the first digital photograph! They expressed their astonishment at his brilliance and marveled at his ability to predict the future of their industry. Oh wait…. That’s not what happened… The company’s leadership told him that there was no value to his work and that no one would ever want to see an electronic version of a picture. They (or so they thought) had seen the future, and Kodak wasn’t in it.

Did You Know?

It’s been widely estimated that at least 50% of organization’s change initiatives are either over budget, over schedule, or have outright failed to meet planned objectives.   Research shows that 95% of who we are by the time we are 35 years old is a memorized set of behaviors, emotional reactions, unconscious habits, and hardwired attitudes with beliefs as well as perceptions that function like a computer program.

Now What?

Can people change? The answer is, YES, they can. The questions that must serve as guidance are: How does this change happen? What needs to happen to bring about this change?

Organizational Awareness

Believe it or not, nature provides an outline for dealing with change in an organization. The first question to evaluate is, “What needs to die?”  Organizations must stop and think about the following: What actions do we need to suspend that are no longer serving us or translating to success?  Additionally, if changes have recently been made, organizations must assess: What has been learned from those changes and how can those lessons be utilized for new growth? Finally, how can we invest in successful new growth?

That’s certainly a lot of questions, however I believe that each is vital to understanding the nature of change in an organization. There is clearly not a quick solution, but instead a comprehensive understanding of a variety of factors and meaningful strategies.

For more information on how MindsetGo can help your company implement change initiatives, improve internal communication among your leaders and teams, and facilitate difficult conversations, please check out MindsetGo.com or call us at 978-206-1535.