Change Happens When…

Through the course of doing business and networking I have had numerous discussions lately about change; change management, accelerating change, culture change, etc. In fact, at the August Cincinnati Six Sigma User’s Group meeting we talked about “Accelerating Change & Influencing Buy-In”.

Several months ago I was having breakfrast with a good friend and we were talking about change and accoutability as it related to us as individuals. He shared the follloiwing formula with me and I think it also applies to companies and organizations.

Change Happens When D + V + F > R
Where:
D = Dissatisfaction
V = Vision
F = First Steps
R = Resistance to change

Do you typically think about change when you are satisfied? I don’t. I don’t think about food when my stomach is full (except ice cream…). I don’t really think about a drink of water unless I’m thirsty. It’s the sense of dissatisfaction that spurs us to do something. For individuals this could be a desire to lose weight, get into shape, reduce or eliminate debt, etc. For companies this could be a desire to increase shareholder return, increase profits, stimulate innovation, reduce muda (or waste), etc.


Vision refers to individual’s ability to see how circumstances could be better. To visualize how I will feel (and look) after I lose 15 pounds. For companies, this might be visualizing satisfied customers who now recommend your products to their friends. The key to visualization in organizations is clearly communicating the vision to all employees and members.


First steps is action. Do you ever recall a time when you really dreaded doing something that you had to do? I can remember times when I did not want to run. It was cold and rainy and I wanted to stay in the warm bed, but I know my friend would be waiting on me. So I got up and ran anyway. Afterwards I felt great and was glad that I did it. The first mile is always the toughest. There have been other times when I was to present a paper or teach a class. As I began working through the preparation (first steps) I found myself looking forward to the presentation or class.


No one likes change for change sake. In fact, many of us have a very strong resistance to change. Dissatisfaction, vision and first steps together must be greater than our resistance to change. That is, we must be dissatisfied with how things are now, we must be able to visualize the payoff and we have to get started.


Apply this formula and test my friend’s theory. We’d like to hear from you.

Tim DeRosett, CSSMBB
E-mail: tim.derosett@isssc3.com