Personal transition – the often-forgotten stage of transformation and change.

Last weekend my seven-year-old daughter, Emmy, finally cracked riding a bike. Her twin sister mastered this two years ago after they both successfully completed cycle training at a local school hall. However, Emmy’s attempts at cycling in the real world resulted in scraped knees, tears, fear and a determination never to sit on a bike again.

Towards the end of lockdown something changed, she started to talk positively about riding a bike. So, quick as a flash I whisked her off to our local sports centre and holding her by her shoulder, we did circuits of the empty car park – her cycling, me running and shouting positive words of support and guidance. After what seemed like hours, she began to get the hang of it, so as we approached the end of our last lap, I let go, allowing her to cycle about 3 metres unaided. Given this significant progress, I did what every proud father would do - I lied - told her she’d cycled at least 20 metres, congratulated her enthusiastically and bought ice-cream to celebrate.

True success came the next weekend when we ventured to a local park. Excitement was in the air as all we’d been talking about at home was how much Emmy was going to enjoy riding her bike with her sister. The park was bustling with children who were playing and cycling. Again, we set off together, me holding her as she pushed off, then almost instantly, her confidence grew and she got it. I ran with her for one loop of the park but hardly needed to help her at all. Then, you guessed it, she was gone – I was left behind, she was independently cycling, improving her balance and control all the time and loving every second. She was a cyclist.

So, does this relate to the challenges we face implementing transformation?

Mastering new skills and new ways of doing things requires an individual to personally transition from what they used to do, to something new. It can be scary; success isn’t guaranteed, and failure can be humiliating or worse.

However, the benefits of business transformation are only achieved when the organisational change (newly designed structures, operating models etc.) and behaviour change (adoption of new processes and technology, application of new skills) actually happens. Success comes when our people and teams – or at least some of them – do something different.

Change requires our people to personally transition into new ways of thinking and doing. For an individual this is often an emotional as well as a behavioural journey. However, more time and focus is often given to the transformation activities like solution design and programme management that have tangible outputs, than to ‘softer’ activities like coaching and individual support. There may be talk of the ‘change curve’ but usually this is takes place in the form of a briefing that relates how people are feeling, rather than being focused on the interplay between mindset, behaviour and capability that occurs when using a new system, talking to a customer in a new way etc.

Barriers I observed in ‘the park’ which also occur in the workplace.

Whilst the desired outcome was clear (being able to ride a bike), it wasn’t wanted enough. The benefits were not truly appreciated.
Failed first attempts to do something new, knocked confidence and reinforced the ‘not wanted’ mindset.
Time was the enemy – negative mindsets (especially fear and aversion) become increasingly embedded over time, additionally knowledge and training relating to the new activity fade, increasing the likelihood of failure.

What increases the likelihood of success?

Landing a compelling outcome, ensuring the benefits for individuals are understood and bought into. (N.B. benefits for different groups of people are likely to vary as will the best way to get the message across.)
Understanding the capability shifts required within teams and at an individual level. We need to recognise that not everyone may be able to transition successfully.
Provision of support when new activities are attempted for the first time. Not everyone will need personal support. Help doesn’t need to be an extra expense as it can be provided in-team by ‘change champions’ who coach and act as role models.
Celebrating the successful completion and attempted completion of the new activities. People are more likely to persist when they see others changing and when they feel their efforts are appreciated.

We need to build the desire within our people to want to change, to believe in the future being worked towards and believe that they can successfully embrace the new ways of working, new technology and new skills required.

Having spent the last twelve years leading change and a further ten years advising businesses on organisation and capability development, I have seen how important the human-side of business and digital transformation is. I believe we design better organisational solutions and activation plans when we adopt a people-driven approach to change, and are more successful when we support individuals as they transition to the new ways of working that deliver the business outcomes we want

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