Conditions for Sustainable Change

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -1000

According to Graves, 6 conditions are needed for adaptive change to be sustainable.

Potential - People and organizations must have the potential for change. If for whatever reason the openness for change is not present, no change will occur.

Solutions - Change is development and occurs through stages. If issues are not
resolved at one stage, progression to the next will not occur. Free energy is required for change.

Dissonance - Dissonance is the feeling that something is not right. Without it there is no reason to change.

Insights - Insight into viable alternatives must be available for change to become sustainable.

Barriers - Barriers to change need to be identified and managed.

Support for consolidation - New thinking (and acting) must be supported for it to be internalized.

(Adapted from The Never Ending Quest, by Clare Graves 2005)

Musings

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -1000

Recently, with lots of time because of a re-scheduled flight, I picked up a new publication from the bookstore at the airport - The Handbook for Leaders (Zenger & Folkman). With the subtitle...24 Lessons for Extraordinary Leadership... it promised a world of difference.

As you do, I browsed the front cover, back cover and with some degree of scepticism moved to the table of contents. Along the way I was distracted by a quote: ‘you will hear some people say that leadership development is something that organisations invest in for the long run, and that no one should expect an immediate payoff. We take exactly the opposite stance. You should be able to see results right away. If you do not see results relatively quickly, we doubt you ever will'.

I knew then, that I was in good company. What was to come, was how cleverly the authors wove a path through 24 lessons of myth busting and challenge setting. Well done guys! Is my verdict. The lessons are sound, the humour is appreciated and the inspiration is great.

But seeing is not solving. Great leaders are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They make a difference because they dare to differ and take their people ‘beyond the square' searching for the excellence of others.

It is good to remember that a dwarf on the shoulders of a giant will always see further than even the giant.

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Conditions for Sustainable Change

Musings