This weekend I was fortunate enough to get tickets to the England - Samoa rugby game. Twickenham stadium had 70,000 people seated - the vast majority of whom needed to make their way through the streets to the station afterwards. My clever husband commented that looking out over the sea of people, was like looking over a stream of ants or other hive bound cultures. This lead me to ponder what drives a crowd into specific behaviours - and even more interesting - what drives them to change. It was obvious that each individual person in the crowd took their bearings - in respect to where to go - from a range of individuals around them. This was not just the ones right next to them, but also the ones further away. As long as everyone was moving in the same direction - that was where we went - even when it took us over a grassy hill in the middle of a roundabout.
However, when the police turned their horses across the road, the entire crowd came to an obedient standstill. This was not because we could not have passed the horses - so what drove the change?
I identified the following factors:
- Something visual and physical CHANGED in the surroundings and captured people's attention
- That which changed was a BENEVOLENT authority figure with a friendly attitude and an expectation that directions would be followed
- The crowd had TRUST that they would be allowed to move on when the time was right
- The police officers kept people INFORMED of why they were being stopped - and what would happen next
- People in front - on our own level - came to a stand still and therefore SET THE EXAMPLE
So - how can you use this if you want to change something in your company?
First of all - You need to get people's attention - and you need to keep it. This may be through a combination of addressing them personally / verbally and putting something visual up, or it may be through encouraging them to do things differently - but something has to catch that attention.
Second - as a leader you need to be seen to drive beneficial and kind change. If you have to make people redundant, it is important to explain how this will help the company in the long run. And if you are changing processes and systems, you will want to clearly demonstrate how the change will benefit everyone in the long run.
Third - you have to demonstrate caring leadership. Caring - because until people know how much you care, they don't care how much you know. And leadership - because it is your responsibility to identify hazards and provide warning and whatever protection you can from them. It is also important to demonstrate that you understand the situation, know exactly where it is people are wanting to go (your vision) and that you are willing to help them get there.
Fourth - for efficient change, you have to tell people what they are doing - and why. Be honest. Even bad news don't get any better for sitting around longer - all that happens is that your team lose their trust in you, because you didn't share with them. Think of the employees of SAS who voluntarily took dramatic pay cuts in order to keep their jobs. Your team may surprise you with their support, provided you can get them involved in the solutions.
Fifth - someone on every level has to drive the change. Some people struggle with accepting change driven by a person on a senior level. By having people on every level actively and preferably energetically involved with and demonstrating the change - you bypass resistance and get things moving much faster.
And then there is the sixth element. The one that while we didn't see it demonstrated after the rugby game, was probably one that was front of the police officers' minds - keeping an eye out for trouble makers and handling them efficiently. Trouble starts with one person and then spreads. The quicker you identify the key person - the quicker you can take steps to pull them aside and evaluate what will be the best way to handle them. The longer you wait - the more people may become self-perpetuating change-resisters...and then change can take a long time.
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