CHANGE PROCRASTINATION IS AS DESTRUCTIVE AS CHANGE FATIGUE
People in organizations are suffering from change fatigue. Too much change, too
fast, too often. Changes imposed with little or no consultation. No preparation or
inadequate training and if you can't keep up, you're out!
Talking about this at a recent change management workshop I was facilitating, one
of the participants really surprised me when he said he would like to have a dose of
change fatigue syndrome! He explained that in his organization, everyone knew that
changes had to happen and urgently, but the leaders were using extensive
consultation as an excuse for inaction - and everyone knew it!
At first I thought he might be an early adopter - someone who enjoys change and is
always one of the first on board. Yet as we talked, it became clear that he was just
the opposite. Despite his natural change reticence, he could see that as time passed
with nothing happening, there was a real possibility that any changes would come
too late to rescue the company and its dwindling customer base. That meant he and
his co-workers would lose their jobs.
The impact of change inaction is the same as poorly managed rapid change.
Uncertainty, demotivation, stress, and cynicism grow; people become demoralized
and performance drops off. Turnover and absenteeism increase. In the worst cases
we also see more allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, as well as theft
and workplace violence.
How do you know when it's time to take action and start implementing change? Is it
an art or is it science? Based on experience and gut feel, good leaders intuitively
know when the time is right but they back up their judgement with a sound change
management strategy that takes account of all of the stakeholders needs.
Where is your organization on the scale of change action to inaction? Have you
struck the right balance between good consultative practices and just doing it?
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