Leaders are expected to be positive change agents that improve performance. And the performance enhancements produced by their change initiatives are expected to be sustainable.
Properly mixing two ingredients produces sustained, transformational change.
Much of the information involved in a change initiative is factual and objective, all of it observable and measurable. But change involves motivating people to challenge precedent and to move in a different direction. To be successful, it must address shared perceptions and human qualities that have developed over time like values, beliefs and cultural taboos which form the reality that people create together.
All teams share the objective attributes and the subjective realities that are true for them. For a change initiative to produce sustainable, improved performance, both the objective facts and the subjective truths must be engaged. Ken Wilber and other change management mentors have long advocated for this understanding.
Transformational change is achieved when leaders mix the objective and subjective factors in equal measures. They work with the goals and productivity metrics that drive measurable, objective performance improvement, but recognize that sustainability is produced by listening for and engaging with subjective elements like motivation, morale, aspirations, myths and restrictions.
The successful change initiative efficiently mixes objective specifics with subjective realities.
How can you gain a better understanding of your team’s subjective realities?
How can these realities be leveraged to drive change?
