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When our children were very young, my wife and I took the family on a cross-country trip. Several days in the close quarters of a car can be challenging, especially so when many of the conversations begin with the question “Are we there yet?” So, we carefully planned every detail of the journey.
For each of our various stops along the way, we reserved a room at a Howard Johnson hotel. We knew that all across the country these hotels were decorated with exactly the same wall colors, lamps, and bedspreads. To help our children feel more “at home” each night, we even specified that each room must have the beds on the right and the TV on the left. Sameness, we reasoned, would be comforting.
The trip seemed to be going well. The children were patient, and the parents were still relatively sane. Then on the third night we checked into yet another Howard Johnson hotel. As soon as we walked into our room—which was identical to the others we’d slept in that week—our four-year-old son threw up his hands and with a tone of utter despair said, “We’ve been driving forever and we keep coming back to the same room!”
That’s exactly what change can feel like. Despite your best efforts, some people will continue to ask “Are we there yet?” Some won’t mind taking a trip, just not in the direction you’re headed. Others will resist getting in the car at all.
For most people, change really is a big deal. Change can involve the adoption of new technologies, reengineering, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, culture blending, or any of a number of other forms. Change is a big deal because it often requires leaving our comfort zones. Change is a big deal because it touches on our sentiments and devotions, some of which may not be apparent even to us.
The big deal about change is usually not about strategy or structure or systems. All of those things are of course important. But the core of it all is feelings. In the world of human commerce, nothing changes unless and until people’s behaviors change. And the kind of behavior change that results in lasting (sustainable) change must accommodate people’s feelings—feelings that involve trust, confidence, passion, and all those other intangible but very real things that make us human.
You can rent people’s backs and hands, but you must earn their heads and hearts.
Change really is a big deal. Work hard to accommodate people’s feelings—their heads, hearts, and hopes—and your change effort can be one of the success stories.
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