My mantra on change has always been, “People don’t mind change, they just mind being changed.” If you think about it, once we’re changed, things are normal again.
This week however, I want to focus on the word itself and why change may be so negative to most people. I believe subconsciously people see change as saying what we have been doing up until now.. is wrong. People then resent change.
It is my premise this week to suggest using another word; improve.
Imagine one of these two sentences coming from your board chairman:
“O.K., it’s time to change. Let’s change what we have been doing.” Â Or..
“O.K., it’s time to improve. Let’s build on what we have been doing and improve it.”
Which sentence inspires you more to accept a new way of doing things? Test this the next time you hear people writing or talking about change and substitute the word “improve” every time they say “change.” We’ve done too much good work to change our organization but we can always… improve it.
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