Adaptability is the last word on change

There is no anagram for ‘change’. And, as it’s derived from the Old French word ‘change’, you can see that it stubbornly refuses to budge even when translated. It is quite possibly the most unchangeable word in the dictionary.

To compound the issue, there is no anagram for ‘embrace’ either, and as a result the phrase ‘embrace change’ is so hypocritical it makes the warden of Shawshank look like a stand-up kind of guy.

When faced with the need to ‘embrace change’, there will always be some people who – like the phrase itself – refuse to be anything other than they are today. The change paradox is that ultimately, those who cannot or will not change will end up being changed anyway.

However, before blindly deciding to sweep them aside, leaders have a duty to both the individual and the organisation to give their people the tools and skills to adapt. There might be some hidden gems amongst the resistors, if only they could be convinced to uproot themselves. And to coax them to embrace change, it’s not simply a case of providing them with IT training for the new IT system, or sales training for the new product, or even the CEO re-iterating the strategy until it is understood by all. It’s not so much about what they learn, it’s more about how willing they are to learn it – and then live it. That is the essence of developing their change intelligence.

Organisations that proactively want to change need to develop people to proactively want change.

Happy Christmas everyone, and thanks for reading this year! I look forward to connecting with you in 2017.