Have you ever wondered why people on your team and in your organization fail to change even when it's wildly clear no one likes the status quo? Despite the best intentions and thorough planning, about 70% of change initiatives fail according to McKinsey.
I’m reminded of a former client, a mid-sized tech company, that needed support in overhauling their systems. During our initial conversations, the leadership team spoke passionately about their vision for a more innovative and collaborative workplace, recounting numerous failed change initiatives over the years. The twist? Despite recognizing the need for change, the very leaders who championed the transformation were often the most resistant to adopting new ways of working.
This resistance wasn’t due to a lack of understanding or commitment but stemmed from deeply ingrained habits and fears of the unknown—a very human response we all share. This project taught me a valuable lesson about the intricate dance between personal transformation and systemic change.
Real, sustainable change requires a dual focus: transforming ourselves and the systems we operate within. We cannot have one without the other.
The Dual Nature of Change
Like my past clients, most organizations focus on systemic change when they set out to transform. Implementing new processes, restructuring teams, and adopting new technologies are common strategies. However, it’s not just organizations; individuals often do this too. Maybe at some point, you thought the path to change would be paved with a new morning routine, a journaling practice, or a lunchtime walk. These are all positive steps, but if you don’t also evolve—meaning your behaviors and mindset—then your efforts can fall flat.
Let's ground this in an example: imagine you’re a tech company aiming to foster innovation by breaking down departmental silos. You decide to create cross-functional teams to drive this change. In theory, you’ve done all the right things:
Recognized a barrier to your goal
Found a viable solution
Rolled it out
What might get in the way of this change? Let’s brainstorm together. Think about how people would need to behave or even feel to achieve the goal of collaboration and innovation.
This is hardly detailed, but it gives you an idea of all of the behaviours, skills, and feelings that we might need on top of the system changes being made.
Changing the Self
Systems influence individuals and individuals, in turn, influence systems. This might sound abstract, so let’s break it down. The self-help industry often tells us how to change as leaders but overlooks other factors like:
Company Culture: Dictates acceptable leadership behaviours.
Media Influence: Shapes our leadership ideals.
Feedback: Refines our styles but can reinforce old habits.
Cultural Background: Influences our approach to leadership.
While you can work on self-improvement, it’s important we recognize just how much systems influence us.
Let’s talk about Jane. She’s a team leader from the organization we spoke about earlier. Initially, Jane's micromanaging style was a response to the company's previous hierarchical culture, which rewarded control and oversight (which is pretty common in organizations.) When the company shifted towards a more collaborative system with cross-functional teams, the new culture began to influence Jane's behaviour. She realized her micromanaging was now harming the goal of collaboration (don’t you love how self aware Jane is 👏.)
Motivated by the new system's emphasis on teamwork and shared responsibility, Jane set a goal to delegate more. This change not only improved team performance and reduced her stress but also aligned her personal growth with the company's evolving culture.
Although this is hypothetical it highlights just how much self-change and system change are intertwined. Sustainable change requires attention to both personal growth and systemic factors.
Changing the System
Most organizational development literature oversimplifies system change, often ignoring the need for leaders to adapt and adjust their styles, and sometimes even their identities, to make new systems work.
This oversimplification happens for several reasons:
Desire for Quick Fixes: Organizations often seek quick, easy-to-implement solutions to complex problems, leading to a focus on structural changes rather than the more challenging personal adaptations required.
Misunderstanding of Complexity: Many approaches fail to account for the intricate interplay between different elements of a system, such as people, processes, and culture. Simplistic models don't capture these dynamics.
Lack of Focus on Human Factors: Structural changes are more tangible and easier to manage compared to the nuanced and less visible changes in human behavior and mindset. As a result, the critical role of leadership adaptation is often downplayed.
Remember Jane from the previous section? She is one team lead in a whole organization of leaders, all of whom can (and do) impact the progress being made. We were fortunate with Jane because she was self-aware enough to recognize the behavior changes needed. However, this is not always the case.
Organizational change is more than just structural adjustments; it requires leaders to shift their approaches and sometimes their fundamental ways of thinking to integrate new systems effectively. This ensures that changes are not only implemented but also sustained.
Self and System Change
When individuals embrace new mindsets and the system supports these behaviours, change becomes sustainable. It’s like tuning both the musician and the instrument for a harmonious performance.
In our tech company example, Jane’s personal growth in terms of delegation and trust was supported by the new system of cross-functional teams. The systemic changes pushed the leaders to evolve personally, creating a virtuous cycle of change.
In order to change systems, you often have to change parts of yourself (even though you probably didn't set out to). And changing self is rarely catalyzed by anything but challenges you're facing in the systems around you that are bigger and more dominant than you or your control.
It’s A Dance
Effective change management is a dance between evolving ourselves and transforming our environments. Both are crucial for real, sustainable change. Ignoring the dialogue between the two can lead to incomplete solutions.
Next time you face a change challenge, ask yourself:
How can I change my approach, and what system shifts are needed to support this new direction?
Remember, the dialogue between changing yourself and changing the system is key to lasting success.