Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Whenever crisis strikes an organization, exceptional leaders tend to coalesce their allies, recognize a sense of urgency, and use mental tools needed to navigate the storms that come with change. Why then are lasting improvements so rare?

Timothy Clark tells the story of change initiatives that never materialized ... in his recent book, Epic Change. In Clark’s words:

I met with a CEO once who showed me a drawer in his filing cabinet. Pointing to the overstuffed folders that filled the drawer, he exclaimed with mock pride, “This is my million-dollar drawer.” He went on to explain that the drawer was filled with plans for change initiatives that never materialized. Over the years the organization had literally paid more than a million dollars to commission studies and draw up plans that were now doing nothing but gathering dust.

According to Clark, change often fails at the pivotal point where:

1. Plans become real - and tasks now need to be performed.
2. Leaders were to ensure that work progresses in logical steps.
3. People are held accountable to perform their parts well and on time.

Have these three missteps marked change fiascos where you work?

Added to Clark’s accurate discovery ... that change often fails out of neglect to follow through … I’d like to suggest:

Failure follows whenever we neglect to rewire brainpower for successful results.

Check out any sluggish organization, and see how crisis tends to trump change because of brains wired against the same expected results that inspired change plans in the first place.

In interesting ways, the human brain wires for or against change and more choices exist for successful outcomes  ... than people realize.

How might your workplace begin to reboot dynamic brainpower for change?