In 2023, Canadian business productivity declined 2.2% — reaching $59.10 per hour worked. The third consecutive year of decline. Statistics Canada confirms it.
The will is there. The projects too. The problem lies elsewhere.
Where are you actually starting from?
Leaders often focus on the destination: where do we want to go, and fast. Change management, on the other hand, looks at the gap between the current situation and the desired one. Those are two different things.
Before planning the path, you need to know your real starting point. And that’s where things get stuck. Most organizations assume their past changes are 100% implemented. That processes are current. That teams are aligned with the latest directives. That’s rarely the case.
You’re moving from one unclear point to another. The path takes longer than expected. Costs exceed the budget. Teams resist because they haven’t yet absorbed the previous change.
Three questions before changing anything
Before implementing any change in your organization, ask yourself these three questions. They make the difference between a project that moves forward and one that stalls.
1. Are we starting from an accurate picture? Not the picture you hope for. The real one. Current processes, the adoption level of past changes, the actual state of your teams. Without that, the plan is built on assumptions. To go further read the article Reality: The Starting Point for Success
2. Are we changing for the right reasons? The question to ask: what happens if we don’t change? The answer reveals the true urgency and relevance of the change. A project driven by the wrong reasons (optics, external pressure, trends) won’t make it through your teams. It will run out of steam.
3. Is it coming from the right place? A change imposed from the top, without understanding how teams naturally operate, creates resistance. The conative, each person’s instinctive way of acting, determines whether a change will be adopted or not.
People first
The brain doesn’t like change. That’s neurological, not strategic. Every person goes through the same adoption process but at their own pace. To go further read the article Individuals’ Personal Pace
Beyond pace, there’s each person’s natural mode of action: conation. Conation is a person’s instinctive way of acting. Some need facts and data before moving forward. Others jump straight into action. Others need to test things concretely before adoptingthem. To go further read the article How to Facilitate Change Within a Company Using Conation
Ignoring these differences in an organizational change creates unintended resistance. People don’t oppose change, they react according to their nature. The organizations that adapt best don’t change faster. They change by respecting how their people naturally function.
Where to start?
A good starting point: assess whether your organization is ready to adapt right now. Our free quiz gives you a clear picture in just a few minutes so you can move forward on solid ground.
Prefer to talk it through? One strategic conversation is often enough to clarify the next step.
