Motivating change in the workplace

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A common narrative in change management is that if you give somebody a compelling reason to change, what’s in it for them, they will then be much more likely to adopt the change.

What can be a more compelling reason to change than your life depending on it?

Let’s consider the example of patients in healthcare that have very poor lifestyles resulting in heart diseases leading to these patients needing coronary artery bypasses. These patients need to change their lifestyle. Otherwise, they would die from their heart condition. Dr. Edward Miller, the former Dean of the Medical School and the CEO of John Hopkins found that 90% of the people that go through a coronary artery bypass, go back to their old lifestyle within two years of their surgery.

So how could a reason be more compelling than your life depending on it?

Because a good and compelling reason, alone, is not enough to create or sustain change. Change is much more complex, and sometimes the motivation or the reason alone is not enough to sustain it. How we behave is a function of both who we are and the environment in which we exist.

I may be motivated to have a healthy lifestyle, but do I have the knowledge, abilities, and skills to sustain such a lifestyle? Do I have the willpower to initiate a change and then sustain it through the day, week, months, and years?

To create lasting change, focus on the person within the environment that he or she’s acting.

From the person perspective, willpower does not last. And motivation needs a daily boost, just like the brushing that has to happen every single day. Focusing on the motivational aspects alone is a weak strategy when designing and facilitating change.

Consider also the abilities, knowledge, and skills needed to adopt and implement that change. If that is a gap, no matter how motivated you are, you are not going to be able to create the change.

And last, consider the environment in which you’re functioning. Is the environment congruent with the changes you wish to make? If the goal is to adopt a healthy lifestyle, do you have junk food in the environment, you live or hang out with people who don’t work out, friends who are constantly asking you to go out for unhealthy meals? Assess the environmental conditions that are leading to your current behaviour and make the necessary changes to your environment to align it with your change goals.

As a leader who is trying to create change in an organization, when you’re devising a strategy for change, acknowledge both the person and the environment. It’s only when the two come together that you can have a hope for lasting change. Now that is a compelling strategy to make change happen.

Ready for Change?

I’ve recorded a video highlighting three tactics to build your resilience as you persevere through continuous and multiple changes in your life and at work.

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