Can you lead a redesign if you can’t embrace the change yourself?
Organisational redesign projects are complex and often emotionally charged endeavours that involve restructuring teams, redefining roles, and reshaping the way an organisation functions. As the person who is leading this change, you have to ‘get the job done’ and a big part of this involves helping your senior leaders deliver the change – either through the mechanics of the design process or through the human element of getting people to work in different ways. And, as with all change, we as humans are built to avoid discomfort, to like the familiar patterns – even when we know that these aren’t helping us anymore.
And that includes you too (it also includes me!)
So – can you successfully lead a redesign if you can’t embrace the change yourself? Or if you don’t believe that it is possible for the organisation and the people in it to change? The short answer is – no, you can’t.
To successfully drive through organisational changes, I believe that you have to CHOOSE to be a ‘naïve optimist’. What does this mean?
Even though you know that changes don’t always work, you need to actively choose to believe that this one will. And then throw all your energy behind that believe.
Even though you have lots of experience in people, and know that people aren’t always supportive, you need to be idealistic in coming into any change and believe that this time is different, and these people are different, and that you can trust them to get on board.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you don’t plan for all the things that go wrong, it just means that you choose to believe that it will be different this time.
So, what do you do if you feel that you have a strong resistance to a particular change initiative that you’ve been asked to lead? Here’s some questions to help you work through this:
Do you have a fundamental objection to the outcomes of the change, in a moral or legal sense? Or – more simplistically – would delivering the change mean breaking the law, or doing harm to people? If so, then it’s understandable that you can’t get on board. And if this is the case, then this isn’t the project for you.
What emotions am I feeling in response to this change, and why might I be feeling this way? Am I uncomfortable because this change feels hard and I am worried about personal aspects for me?
Am I confusing my resistance to the change outcome with believing that this will be hard or the work will be overwhelming or that I won’t succeed?
If you’ve answered Question 1, 2 and 3 and you’re still keen to proceed with leading the initiative (because there are no dealbreakers for you), then consider if you can reframe your resistance:
How could this change offer opportunities for growth, learning, or improvement in my career or for me personally?
What long-term benefits could this bring for me? What short term ‘pain’ am I prepared to work through for these longer term ‘gains’?
What small steps can I take to make this initiative feel more manageable? How can I focus on one step at a time?
What support do I need through this process? Who can I talk to or seek advice from to help me better understand or cope with this change? What resources will be of most use to me in this work?
Heading into a change initiative with your head firmly in the game is critical – not just for you but the people that you will be influencing and engaging along the way. It’s critical to believe in the work that you are doing, not only for you but for the others that you are leading towards a different way of working.
