PAY ATTENTION TO CONTINUITY

A Common Problem: There’s Too Much Change

Extraordinary amounts of time and care go into crafting “cases for change.” All the reasons get listed in compelling detail. The arguments are persuasive. The language is crafted just so, meant to further motivate those already on the bandwagon and convince fence-sitters to come along. Common wisdom says not to focus on the strongest in opposition. They aren’t likely to get on board anyway, and you don’t want to waste precious resources. People are encouraged to identify the various changes required to make the effort successful. The spotlight is focused on what will be new and different. The change campaign is under way.

Sometimes this approach works. Often it does not. Why is this so often the case?

Solution: Pay Attention to Continuity

A major reason most change work falls short is that you’re dealing with only half of reality. Whether people realize it consciously or not, they know there’s something wrong with this picture. You’re clapping with only one hand. What about a rousing chorus for a “case for continuity,” highlighting all those things from the past and present that need to be part of your organization’s successful future? The firmer the ground people stand on, the more able they are to push off in their leap into an uncertain future. Radical continuity makes radical change possible. Welcome to the world of paradoxical change. If you want change, don’t (just) go after change. Remember and celebrate the importance of continuity, and you’ll be well on your way to achieving successful change.

My friend and colleague Barry Johnson has studied and taught the concepts of paradoxical change for more than forty years.² His original and still growing body of knowledge is the foundation for this chapter. He views the power and possibilities of paradoxical change through a lens he calls Polarity Thinking™. Polarities are opposites that need each other over time to succeed. Take breathing as an example—inhaling and exhaling. Consider activity and rest. Both contribute to a healthy, balanced life. Organizations wrestle with all kinds of polarities every day. Do we focus on our business unit’s success or on the entire enterprise’s fortunes? Would we be better off centralizing shared services for efficiencies or decentralizing them to get closer to the customer? Is it smarter to go after profit today or potential for tomorrow? The best answer to all these questions is yes.

Approaching change from a paradoxical point of view transforms your greatest resisters into your staunchest allies. We know how to deal with resisters in a traditional approach to change: leave them behind. They’ll either go quietly or get louder. Neither reaction is productive for moving the ball down the field. Push on them to change their views, and they push back even harder. Not only despite your best efforts but in fact because of them.

The rules of the game change when you’re dealing with paradoxes and polarities. Instead of outvoting the minority, understand that the fewer the people who share a point of view and the less powerful they are, the more you need to listen to them. What they see and believe, others don’t. Their being the minority doesn’t make them wrong. It makes them even more valuable potential contributors. Rethink what these resisters have to offer. In many cases, they see traps that you can overlook in your excitement to move forward. Within a polarity paradigm, there is wisdom in resistance. It’s not an obstacle to be overcome or gotten around on the way to an exciting future. It’s a point of view that you need to include to get to that exciting future.

People with an “Or” mindset get stuck in useless debates about whether the organization needs to focus on change or on continuity. Will things be better in the future because we decide to do things differently, or should we stick with the tried-and-true practices that have gotten us to where we are today? The answer to this question is a firm yes. Each of these groups is right. The problem is that each is only half right. You only get the complete answer by coming from an “And” point of view. Both continuity and change are needed for either to be successful.

Challenge your existing assumptions about what makes for successful change. Adopt a paradoxical approach and be prepared to be surprised by the ease, speed, and quality with which your efforts move forward. It’s the first of our 8 Levers because it sets a context for the rest. Leverage means getting more done with less. Less resistance. Less time. Less wasted energy. A paradoxical approach to change is your first step on that journey.

How This Lever Helps Create Faster, Easier, Better Results

The Pay Attention to Continuity lever leads to new thoughts and behaviors. You move from defining the people who are resisting change as problems to creating an expanded team where everyone’s voice is heard. You want to use this lever in your change work for the following five reasons:

1. This lever reduces resistance to change from those valuing continuity. The greater the resistance, the slower your change. People may argue that there are methods that have served them well in the past. Great. What were they, and will they help us move toward our preferred future? Others extol the virtues of parts of the culture they don’t want to lose. Super. Let’s identify and preserve the aspects that will work going forward. You’ll hear arguments that even though roles are changing, key performance indicators for the institution should stay the same. Exactly. What’s worked before can work again. Even when people are holding on to outdated practices that won’t serve them well in the future, listen. Dig deeper to understand why they’re still holding on. Resist the urge to dismiss them. You’ll be wiser about why things haven’t worked and have less resistance pushing against you.

2. It ensures that you benefit from past practices that will serve you well in the future. There are plenty of ways you’ve worked in the past that have been effective. You’re never starting from scratch when it comes to change. The difference is that this time you’re making no assumptions. Consciously pay attention to what’s gone well in the past and be sure to bring it forward into the future. Don’t leave it to chance that these points will be made. Identify anything and everything from the past that has been successful. Let nothing get lost in the shuffle. What’s worked is good for your future. What needs to change can lead to even better solutions. Take your pick of the most important aspects that need to be retained in your situation and emphasize them. Here’s a starter list to consider:

• Teams that work together

• Where they work

• Tools they use

• Groups with whom they interact

• Customers they serve

• Suppliers they partner with

The possibilities go on and on. Next time someone talks to you about a big change, be smart enough to also ask about the big things that will continue just as they have from the past.

3. You’re clear and strategic about what to continue from your past. When you’re clear about what you want to continue from the past, you’ll build a more accurate list of what you need to change. Typically, people decide what to change. What doesn’t make the list ends up staying the same. This isn’t a conscious or considered process. Give as much time and attention to what you’re going to continue doing as to what you’ll be doing in new ways. What you continue from the past will have as much impact on your future success as what you decide to change.

4. You build one large organization-wide team valuing both continuity and change. No one gets left off this team. Everyone is valued for their unique perspective. Some people will be natural traditionalists and favor the best of the past and present. Others will inherently focus on innovation, always on the lookout for new and better ways of working. These two camps need to get used to getting along. Their battles have likely been waged for years. Adopting a paradoxical approach to change eliminates conflict between the two groups. Neither is “right” or “wrong.”

5. You stand the best chance of achieving your ultimate purpose. Regardless of what you are trying to accomplish, you’ll be worse off for not applying this lever. Continuity and change each brings its own engine to creating your future. Pay attention to only one, and you’re working with half the power you have available. Doing a good job on change and dropping a few balls on the continuity side of the equation will cost you dearly. Without careful and consistent attention to both continuity and change, you’ll sell yourself and your organization short. Customers will be disappointed. Quality numbers will suffer. Financial forecasts will fall short of the mark.

Success Factors in Applying This Lever

A paradoxical approach requires new assumptions and beliefs. Make changes to your own paradigm, and you can lead others down a similarly helpful path. The success factors that follow are the rules of the road for this new world of possibilities.

Factor One: Adopt a Paradoxical Point of View about Change

You have to see change for what it is—half the equation. Going after change to create more change … will create less. You’ll build your own resistance. People getting in the way of your grand change efforts have made your job harder since day 1, putting up roadblocks that slow your best efforts. Maybe it’s you who’s had it wrong all along.

Once you see change paradoxically, you can never see it another way again. Leverage is not found in pushing harder, arguing louder, or holding on to your position longer. There’s a new set of rules to follow. Seek out the old guard and have them tell you stories of the good old days. Let go of your beliefs about these folks being past their expiration date, out of touch, and behind the times. Assume instead that they are your best friends, bringing nuggets of wisdom to the table—nuggets you would have stumbled past on your way to a bigger and brighter future.

Factor Two: Believe That There Is Wisdom in Resistance

To make this lever work for you, you have to sincerely bring this belief on board. People will know if you’re faking it. We all have internal BS radar. Make a commitment to see the world differently. Give yourself a challenge. See whether you can identify the wisdom being shared in the resistance you’re hearing. Learn to say, “Could you say more?” to encourage so-called resisters to feel safe enough to share the mother lode of insight they possess. Trust them, and they will begin to trust you.

Factor Three: Commit to Listening to the Fewer and Less Powerful

If you can make this commitment, you’ll be more than halfway home. We’re used to taking a vote and letting the majority rule, or having the boss make the call. In the world of paradoxical change, both of these approaches will put you on a path of pain. With enough hierarchical power, you can push your agenda forward against the greatest of odds. Instead, take a more productive approach. Shine a spotlight on minority points of view. Give them equal airtime. Create a culture where smaller bands of believers speak with larger megaphones. You already know who these people are in your organization. Seek them out. Tell them you want to hear from them. Create opportunities in meetings for them to share their perspectives. Encourage others to appreciate the paradoxical approach to change—and the unique value brought by these outliers to the organization’s norms. Make a commitment to do this, to yourself and for the organization.

Factor Four: See Those Resisting Change as Key Contributors, Not Troublemakers

This success factor asks that you shift your mindset and emotions around those who have resisted change. In your quiet moments of contemplation, you may have wondered, What will it take to get these people to move on and bother another organization with their pessimistic points of view? I’m asking you to change your tune about them. They are, and always have been, key contributors to your cause. You just haven’t seen them that way. Every time you saw them causing trouble, they were trying to do what’s best for the organization. As my colleagues and I once said in an earlier book, You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: How to Involve Others to Get Things Done, “Troublemaking is in the eye of the beholder.”⁴ See them as troublemakers, and you’ll have trouble on your hands. Choose to view them as key contributors, and you’ll wonder how you ever got along without them.

Factor Five: Know That You’re All on the Same Team

There’s no longer an “us vs. them” game to play. That’s been an unhelpful assumption since the day you adopted it. Tap into the power of your organization-wide team, and you’ll ride your wave of change (and continuity) into the future you desire. Having people fighting between continuity and change in your organization can be exhausting. People are tired. They’ve kept putting forth their best efforts, only to be thwarted by their colleagues doing the very same thing from another perspective. When you get all the energy in your organization working for you, it’s like paddling downstream. The current makes it easier, not harder, to achieve progress. You cover twice the distance with half the effort. It’s the best way to travel.

How to Know You’ve Applied This Lever Well

Once you’ve put the success factors in place, a critical question remains: How well have you applied this lever? Here’s a short list of items you can review to ensure that you’re taking advantage of the benefits this lever has to offer in your quest for faster, easier, better results.

Previous “Resisters” and “Troublemakers” Are Celebrated as Valuable Contributors

It’s one thing to tolerate resisters and troublemakers, but much harder to celebrate them. They were the Eeyores of Winnie the Pooh fame, moping around the organization waiting for the next bad thing to happen. Now they have become change heroes. The more you encourage people with minority viewpoints to speak up, the more successful your change work will become. The first celebration you hold for a former troublemaker is sure to shake things up. You’ll have everyone’s attention when you explain your new paradigm about paradoxical change. Make friends with your former foes.

Other Polarities in the Organization Are Identified and Leveraged

Continuity/Change is one polarity, an essential one when talking about paradoxical change. There are many people in your organization unnecessarily suffering through endless Or debates about And situations. These conflicts would be much more effectively approached as polarities. How can you tell you are dealing with a polarity? If the argument is about moving from some place you currently are to another, better place in the future, you’re in polarity land. From decentralized to centralized, short term to long term, operations focus to customer focus. You’ll know you’re applying this lever well when you hear talk in meetings about whether people are wrestling with an And polarity or an Or problem. The more you and others see and take advantage of polarities in your organization, the more certain you are of success with this lever.

People Don’t Feel That They’ve Been Overrun or Ralroaded into Change

Ever heard the saying, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way!”? A popular battle cry for changemakers … just not for the effective ones. Your intention may not be to steamroll people on the way to your exciting future. That doesn’t matter. Their perception is your reality. Once you flatten a potential teammate, they’re less likely to partner with you, regardless of the number of apologies you make as you pick them up and dust them off. If you’re excited by this paradoxical change approach, don’t fall into the trap of trying to immediately convince everyone of your newfound wisdom. You get no points for understanding polarities and acting like “it’s my way or the highway.”

You Can Point to Best Past and Present Practices That Are Thriving in the Future

Not everything from your past makes sense to bring with you into the future. However, if you find nothing worth moving forward, you’ve got a problem. You ought to be able to highlight past ways of doing business that have survived your change work. Creating stop-start-continue lists is one variation of this approach. Capturing working and not-working items in a small group is another. You may decide you need a more comprehensive assessment of past performance. The goal is to be clear about what’s going to stay the same. Get on the paradoxical path and make it easier to get from point A to point B.

Whenever Change Is Talked About, So Is Continuity

This may be a tough one. We’re so used to talking change. Continuity is much less popular. It’s certainly less sexy than change. No CEO is getting on the cover of Fortune magazine under the headline, “We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing!” We live in a culture of change. There’s a continually increasing rate of change in technology, customer needs, innovation, and other areas. Leaders and “change agents” are drawn to the concept like moths to a flame. For good reason. The saying “Change or die” is true. From a paradoxical point of view, though, we know that it’s only half true. The less popular coffee mug slogan? “Continue or die.”

Examples of This Lever in Action

Two radically different examples of the Pay Attention to Continuity lever follow: a retail company in a race to garner market share and multiple stakeholders resolving issues surrounding citywide child-care programs. Here we’ll read about the flexibility of the levers. The first story highlights evidence that this lever has taken hold because other polarities in the organization are being identified and leveraged. The second points to the importance of appreciating that continuity for one group may be experienced as change by another. Read on and learn how paradoxical change made a critical contribution to each situation.