Tweet This
“I haven’t got the slightest idea how to change people, but I keep a long list of potential candidates just in case I should ever figure it out.” How many of you, like noted comedian and author David Sedaris, have a list? The fact is, when it comes to changing the behaviors of ourselves or others, the human race struggles. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, dieters in the U.S. spend over $40 billion a year, and 19 out of 20 lose nothing but their money. Further, The National Center for Biotechnology Information reports that more than two-thirds of adults can’t successfully make a habit to floss their teeth regularly!
The big point is that most people lack influence, and this is perhaps the most important capacity that we possess as humans, the ability to influence behavior of others and ourselves. It is no wonder that The Standish Group found that less than nine percent of corporate projects are completed on time and on budget. In addition, Arthur D. Little reports that 85 percent of corporate change efforts fail to deliver the promised outcomes.
There is hope! In their best selling book, Influencer: The power to change anything, the authors and researchers at VitalSmarts posit that those who succeed at influencing a change in behavior share a few common attributes: 1) They recognize that status quo behavior is held in place by a series of “behavioral bullies” that, if change is desired, will require an ensemble strategy to overcome; 2) Our current environment is perfectly synchronized to proliferate the very behaviors that we are currently attempting to change; 3) There are six sources of influence that affect our motivation and ability to change, and those who create influence strategies drawn from four or more of these sources synchronously have a 10x greater chance of creating sustainable change.
In order to further explore how to succeed at influencing change in the corporate world, I interviewed John Bourke, President of Allegiance Capital, Affiliate of VitalSmarts and a seasoned veteran in the leadership and organizational change space.
Shama Hyder: What are the key characteristics of those leaders who are able to influence change at the organizational level?
John Bourke: In general, influencing a change in the behavior of self or others (or organizations, villages, countries etc.) is a team sport in that it requires an ensemble onslaught against the myriad of forces that are at work 24/7 to keep the status quo in place. Influence leaders understand that the principles that drive organizational change are the same as those that govern personal change, like those required for most of us to stay true to our exercise or tooth flossing regimen. At its core, the art and science of influence hinges on two realities, namely: People have to want to make the change, and they have to know how to make the change. Additionally, because we are social creatures with short memories in a world filled with a wide variety of people and tempting distractions, sustainable change requires alignment with “mission-friendly” partners that incent and enable us.
It is also crucial to harness the power of the environment (resources, tools and infrastructure) as a sleepless ally to reinforce the desired change. Leaders who understand this relationship and are experienced in leveraging concurrent strategies to attack status quo on multiple fronts enjoy the greatest success in influencing sustainable change. These business leaders are truly positive deviants, achieving the results that others only dream about. They tend to share a few other common characteristics, which include:
• Seeing the organization as a laboratory: They tend to approach influence campaigns with an unwavering comfort in being both the scientist and the subject of the change experiment. These leaders use trials, measure outcomes and modify influence strategies as needed.
• Abiding by S.M.A.R.T. goals: They always begin with a clear, measurable outcome that is Specific, Measurable, Action-based, Realistic and Time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.)
• Acting as behavioral sleuths: They are great at unearthing the reasons behind why status quo is so attractive. They know that their world is perfectly organized to keep the current behaviors and habits firmly in place, and unless they create a multi-pronged strategy that concurrently challenges each of these status quo realities, their change effort will stall.
• Becoming Pareto groupies: They get that you don’t need to change everything – just the few S.M.A.R.T. things which will support the greatest change. They tend to analyze their current environment to understand what is keeping status quo in place and select the 20 percent of the behaviors and associated actions that will achieve 80 percent of the gain.
• Running simultaneous experiments: Influencers tend to run multiple influence campaigns in different priority arenas (personal and professional) concurrently to borrow insights from respective efforts.
Hyder: What role does cultural environment play?
Bourke: If we define cultural environment as the human operating system of values, beliefs and behaviors that emerges when a group (family, team organization etc.) forms a sense of common identity, it becomes easier to understand how challenging simple change can be. The cultural environment operates like a group consciousness that reinforces certain behaviors while discouraging others.
Peer pressure is one manifestation of this phenomenon and can often serve as the driving force behind an individual’s behavior. For example, in one healthcare organization, the biggest obstacle to holding all employees to hand washing standards turns out to be the reactions of key physicians that resist being called-out for violations.
The reward systems that organizations craft to motivate performance often drive unforeseen consequences. One elementary school rewarded students with a small toy for reading a designated number of books each week. Motivated by the prize, students regressed to reading easier books (below their academic level) to more quickly achieve the reward. An unexamined cultural environment can quickly become an unconscious and predictable drag on progress and a formidable anchor in a sea of mediocrity. Status quo is only the enemy of change when people don’t realize that THERE IS actually a status quo. Mediocrity results when an individual or a group lives for a prolonged period of time without examination of the present circumstances.
It is important for any group or individual to understand what behaviors keep the current culture in place and how those behaviors intersect with the clear, measurable goals they are trying to achieve. When a group or individual desires to make a sustainable change or influence a new approach to work or life – it is imperative that they look at the intersection of the current cultural norm with the new desired state. For example, if I want to eat healthy, yet I am not willing to examine my pantry, I may continue to default to my old shopping list. Similar roadblocks to success would likely occur if I don’t learn how to cook healthier, or I don’t check with my family to see how they feel about my personal quest for health via dietary choices.
Cultural environment isn’t one thing … it’s the only thing. And with anything new you hope to accomplish, you will need to evaluate how that new behavior fits into the current environment to determine which behaviors need to shift in order for a successful change to occur.
Hyder: How do you get top down approval for key initiatives?
Bourke: You have to provide leadership at the top level with a vicarious or personal experience that exposes power brokers to the need for change. The show “Undercover Boss” provides an excellent example. Wearing a disguise, the boss is immersed into the workforce so as to fully experience the pain, the turmoil, and the joy that their leadership directives impart on their people. And, that personal experience drives them to change. Anytime you can use actual experience coupled with quantitative data – you can more easily initiate change.
Hyder: Is there a magic cocktail for sustaining change?
Bourke: The key to sustainable change is developing a robust set of strategies that both motivate and enable stakeholders to replace status quo responses to everyday situations with new vital behaviors that drive the desired change. Research has demonstrated that organizations that marshal together four or more of the right influence strategies in synchrony to both motivate and enable individuals and groups increase the chances of sustainable success by 1000 percent. These six source strategies include:
1) Providing ways to connect the need for change to the individual’s sense of purpose and meaning;
2) Offering opportunities to educate, inform or train individuals with needed skills and knowledge;
3) Suggesting conscious approaches to engaging opinion leaders to model or reinforce the desired change;
4) Harnessing the help of key stakeholders whose collective skills or positional powers are needed to enable change;
5) Aligning rewards to encourage the desired new vital behaviors;
6) Cleaning up bureaucratic snarls, red tape and structural inefficiencies that inhibit progress toward the preferred state.
I highly recommend the book, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, for those who would like to learn more about the power of and strategies related to influence.
