We’ve got this mantra in our society: “People hate change.” You hear it all the time don’t you? “We tried to implement this new system at our company and it totally bombed. People just hate change and fill-in-the blank just killed it.”  Everyone nods their heads knowingly . . . as if to acknowledge the irrefutable truth that people simply don’t like change.

Only one great big problem. It is a complete load of garbage. Or worse. People LOVE change! Don’t believe me? Let’s do a little exercise.

Do you use an MP3 player to listen to music (iPod or similar)? Or maybe you’ve moved on to the next generation channel—streaming music from Pandora or others?  That’s how most of us get our music today.  Do you remember when you used to put a cassette (or maybe your parents did) in your car to listen to music? Do you miss that cassette player today? Were you angry and frustrated when you moved to an iPod or streaming music from CD’s? How about movies? Would you rather go out and rent a VHS tape from Blockbuster (as if you could find one) or do you just love being able to instantly download a movie from Netflix?

I’m betting you love the quality, choice and convenience of the changes in how you access entertainment. How about transportation?  If you would like to go back to riding a horse instead of driving your 200+ horsepower car where you want to go in a fraction of the time (while listening to your favorite tunes in air conditioned comfort), please raise your hand now.  How about we go back to living in caves and reverse all the changes of the last 10,000 years. Any takers?

The issue with change isn’t change….it is how we go about making change happen.

Here is a pretend, but very realistic, example. Let’s say you worked for a company a few years ago that used CD’s for audio training. Every employee was issued a CD player and the CD’s to listen to the training. When they were done, they would take a paper and pencil test to confirm they’d learned all about the new “stuff.”   Now someone in the training department goes to a conference, learns about this uber-cool new technology using MP3 files carried on a small lightweight device with no breakable parts.  The trainer thinks—“Wow, I could deliver all my training more easily, update the content simply, stop buying CDs and tracking them and give my people all that in a smaller device that doesn’t break easily. I’m going to be a hero!!” In the traditional form of implementing change, the trainer buys a bunch of MP3 players (after building a business case and getting approval) and prepares to implement the new technology. Because the trainer knows communication is really important, he puts out a memo to everyone in the company who goes through the training. It probably looks something like this:

To: All Employees

From: Joe in Training

Subject: CD Players for Training

Effective next Monday, we are discontinuing the use of CD players for all training. We have identified a new technology to deliver audio training called an MP3 player. You may not have heard of it before, but it will reduce our training technology costs by 30% and, trust me, you will find it much easier to use.

As we will no longer be supporting the use of CD players for training, all employees are required to return their CD players to the training department by 5pm this coming Friday.  As these are company property, failure to return your CD player to the training department by the scheduled time may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Thank you and we appreciate your cooperation.

Joe

Wow. How are you feeling about that? Maybe like someone just ran over you with a truck? Like maybe you didn’t matter one-little-bit to Joe because he just pushed you around like you were a two year old about to put scissors into an electrical outlet?  Seriously….. This guy is going to tell me I might get fired because I don’t turn my CD player in by Friday?  Who made him King!! I’ll just show him a thing or two….. (Hmmm, maybe my CD player will get run over in the street? Or my kid will drop it in the toilet or . . . and the list goes on).

That’s the issue with what we describe as “people don’t like change.” People LOVE change—when they want what the change will bring—faster, easier, lower cost, better quality, etc. People HATE being PUSHED around.

And pushing is frequently the change management method of choice. What’s the natural response when someone pushes you? You push back.

How does pushing show up when change is implemented?

• No “Why” we should implement the change defined or communicated
• No participation in the process of considering change options
• No opportunity to test the change to make sure it is better than the current solution
• No input in the decision to make the change
• No communication of “What’s in It For Me” (WIFM)
• Not enough training on how to make the change work
• No appreciation for your effort in making the change
• LOTS of mandates, requirements and policies to adopt the change—or else.

Rational people push back when treated that way. Some actively (I’m not going to use the new system/tool/process) and some passively (I’m really, really sorry, but my daughter’s Golden Retriever ate the CD player).  Either way, we are left with a well-intentioned change that isn’t delivering the expected results.

What if we PULLED to implement change instead of pushing? Have you noticed that pulling often lets you move a lot more than when you push? When you pull someone with you and they choose to go to the same place you are going, their energy adds to your own. When you push, it’s always just you and you alone. By pulling, I mean adding every one’s energy together to make the change happen-because everyone wants the change.  Pull is about leading in ways that create shared desire for the new way of doing things.

What if Joe had used Pull instead of Push?

What if Joe had first found a small group of potential early adopters?  You know the type—respected by their coworkers, smart, great critical-thinking skills (no push-overs, pun intended).  Joe could have approached them and said:

“Hey, do you have a minute? I recently learned about this really cool new technology I think might be good for our audio training . . . but I’m not sure yet. It is about 1/10^th of the CD player’s weight, has no moving parts, sounds crystal clear and can carry thousands of recordings. It’s really cool and brand new on the market.  I bought five of them just to check them out and I am hoping that you would try it out for me-and the company.  If it works, that’s great. Even better would be if you and the other four people trying it out find a bunch of ways to make it work even better for us—so it really fits our business.  Would you be willing to give it a shot? After you’ve tried it for a little bit, I’ll get us all together to get your feedback and figure out what, if anything, we do with it.  If it doesn’t work, we will have learned a valuable lesson—thanks to you. Oh… and one other thing, if we do decide to use it in some way, I’m hoping you will help others learn about it and why it is better for us. But only if it is better than the CD players we are using today. Are you game?”

What did Joe just do? He asked a group of smart, respected influencers to help him figure out if his change was good to do. Then he asked them to make it even better. To top it off, he asked them to help generate buy-in and enthusiasm with the rest of the team—but only if they believed in it.  If it were a religion, Joe would have just started recruiting a bunch of apostles.

In a pull approach to change, Joe would then get their feedback, listen, make the change better (or kill the change it if it didn’t work). Then Joe would have told everyone about the test and asked his early adopters to be part of that process and spread the word.  Joe would even ask them to help him refine the training on how to use the MP3, so everyone knew how to use the device when they got it and didn’t get frustrated by the new tool. When it came time to introduce the new training devices more broadly, everyone would know why, have confidence the “new way” would be a big improvement over the old school way they were leaving in the dust and be lined up around the corner to get a hold of the new device!

All because the way Joe approached the change didn’t push on anyone. Instead, Joe used participation, listening, communication and training to pull his team to the change—he created a situation where people WANTED the change.  Sure, there will always be a few people who are so comfortable with the status quo that no matter what you do they won’t get enthusiastic about the change.  When you create a situation in which people have reasons to want the change, most of your team will ask “When do we start?” because they are excited about the future. Just like you were excited the first time you used an iPod to listen to a song you love or downloaded a great movie from Netflix.  You liked it didn’t you? That’s because you wanted it.

People love change. Most of us like the latest, greatest, new and improved.  People line up around the corner for the most innovative technology.  We remodel and upgrade our homes to make them “better.” We go on a vacation to a new place to learn and see more of our world. Many of us can’t wait to try out the cool new restaurant that opened up around the corner.

We don’t like being pushed around.

So don’t push. PULL. Approach every change in a way that builds shared ownership and enthusiasm for everyone who will be a part of your change. People will love it. When you lead with that kind of respect and care, they might kind of like you too. Most importantly, your change will get the results you expect—because your people will DO it.

There is a very bad joke about change that captures all of this simply and perfectly. Are you ready?

Question: How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: Only one. But the light bulb has to really want to change.