I love it when something potentially complex is made simpler. I love it even more when the potentially complex thing not only is made simpler, but also when making it simpler actually helps the thing make MORE sense! Take change management, for example.

Change management can be a very complex process. I have been in organizations where initiatives have imploded because there was little or no change management. I have also experienced change management done well. And when I think about times I have experienced change done well, I am struck by this commonality: the change was made simple, and it made sense.

Recently, I read a very good book about change. (Disclaimer: the author of the book is a family member and a good friend of mine, which is how I heard about it. That having been said...) There are three messages about change in the book that resonated. First, and I quote: "Traditional change management focuses on the change. Successful change work is focused on the reason for change." (p. 134). How many change management models have we come across that get so wrapped up the change, people forget the reason for it? Honestly, this makes change like running on a treadmill versus outside. You're moving, moving, moving, getting tired, but the scenery never changes. At the end of the run, you're tired, but in the same physical place where you started. (Obviously, I don't like working out on treadmills.)

Second, the most important behavior one can demonstrate during a change is honesty (italics mine). When launching a change on an organization, it is critical to be honest and transparent. Why the change? What is in it for me? Many times, leaders and change management practitioners have savvy, politically correct answers to these questions. For example, in response to the question "why is this change good for me?" about implementing an online performance management solution, a canned change management answer that I have heard is, "this will help make the organization a better place to work". While technically not a dishonest answer, it's not completely honest, either. Will an online performance management solution really make an organization a better place to work? Better to say, "This solution will enable all employees goals to be seen across the organization, so that you can identify others who are working on similar things, and perhaps share ideas and best practices." Then it is up to the employee to decide if this change is good for them or not.

Which leads to the third message about change: change is something people decide to engage or not, it cannot be done to them. People decide to change something such as behavior only when they themselves can own it. Too often leaders or change management consultants "own" change by creating and implementing models and frameworks that spoonfeed employees, rather than holding employees accountable for the outcomes of the change. What is the saying - start with the end in mind? That is true of change - if everyone gets to the same point in the end, does it really matter whether or not everyone followed the same change model to get there?

I love these messages because they are simple, and they make sense. Change is confusing. Change management can make it more confusing. I like to think that we change practitioners can make it less so. The book is Point B: A Short Guide to Leading a Big Change by Peter Bregman. It is a quick read (another reason I like it - it's short). I highly recommend it.