How to create widespread change with minimal strategic effort

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When you go bowling, you want to land a strike. But do you actually aim to hit every single one of the bowling pins? No. You are aiming for the kingpin because you know that if you get the kingpin, you’ve got the rest of them.

That is the same strategy used by Bill Bratton in 1984 as the Police Commissioner of the New York Police Department. See, at that time, New York was considered one of the most dangerous and unsafe large cities in North America. Bratton had a budget of two billion dollars and a police force of 35,000 officers. And the mandate was no small mandate. Not only was he asked to reduce corruption, increase job satisfaction, improve performance for these police officers but he was also tasked to create a culture where the brand emerged in a way that the public could trust the police department.

What Bill did is exactly what we talked about, aiming for the kingpin(s). He did not aim to engage every single of those 35,000 police officers directly. Instead, he worked with a few people to identify people within this organization that had disproportionate power and influence. He looked for police officers that were respected, that were heard, and that were followed.

How do you know that somebody had that type of power and influence? When I ask you and invite you to think about who are the power holders in your organization? Such that is you only had to talk to 2% of the people that you’re trying to impact with your change, who would those people be? And don’t filter your thoughts. The names that pop up in your head are there for a reason.

Maybe these people have power because they are perceived as leaders because of their formal titles. Maybe they have power because they are experts in their field and everybody looks up to them. It is also possible they have the power to reward and punish other people. They have the power to include others in the in-group or exclude them from the cool group. These people may also have amazing information before anyone else, either because they have established very solid networks both inside and outside the organization.

There are many reasons why somebody could have immense power beyond the scope of their title. And the most amazing one is when you have developed relationships where you carried yourself in a way that others grow to look up to you. For no other reason, except that they respect you. These are the individuals that are worth identifying and focusing on when designing change efforts.

And if you are struggling with a few people that you identify, who are usually the naysayers or as such, would be called the resisters, I invite you to think again about these individuals from a different lens. These so-called, resistors could have accrued their profound power for one or more of the reasons that I listed above. In addition, they actually may be followed and may be so influential because people are fearful of them. Excluding those individuals from your in-group can actually do you a disservice.

So, if we’re to follow the same lead as Bill Bratton, instead of trying to aim every single person in the organization, worked with the key influencers.

Imagine the guidance and information that you would have in creating a change strategy and a change plan that actually cut across organizational levels and departments. When you work with these individuals, having them engaged in co-creating that change, leads you to create an impact that triggers a domino effect that consequently activates a positive influence for people across every level of the organization.

Just as in the game of bowling, you are aiming for the kingpins that enable you to create a tipping point, which Kim and Mauborgne called the Tipping Point Leadership. In my experience, this is one of the critical levers for transformation.

So, I invite you that the next time you’re trying to lead an enterprise level change and a shift, reserve your energy and target it with those individuals that have the greatest influence in your organization. You will have preserved your energy more. You will have empowered and enabled your workforce. And you will have created lasting change that is sustainable.

Bill Bratton was able to do that within two years and without an increase in his budget. In fact, he was able to successfully implement this strategy to create widespread change, not only in New York but also at the Boston Police Department and alter LA Police Department. These consistent successes earned him the credibility, getting him featured in the Time Magazine for his successes.

We can all learn from Bill Bratton’s approach and use tipping point leadership to create widespread change with minimal strategic effort.

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