From coaching a children’s sports team, to lifting people out of poverty across a country, to transforming a company, through digital transformation, to making the work environment better for a group within an organization, change is part of our lives. Change is how we better ourselves, achieve our goals and dreams, or improve the lives of those around us. Change does not occur by some magic wand or silver bullet or panacea that just works and produces results quickly with minimal issues. You only have to look at the varying successes in business transformation to see this. Yet, the sports team becomes a winning championship team through the consistent and persistent application of proven practices. The winning sports team forms an emergent behavior to make the changes necessary. Amongst others, the winning sports team manages ambiguity, provides support and messaging with an emotional bond, brings empowered emotional ownership, makes decisions, provides leadership, and aligns interests and values through skilling and training and other supporting activities.
Change is about people and getting us to do things in another way, like eating differently for better health. We understand the issue, the impacts, what we should do, and where to get help and support. The actions then come from empowered individuals with ownership, pride in who they are and what they do, who are responding emotionally, because interests and values are aligned. With help and support provided, an emergent behavior is formed, and change occurs: “I do good work, change is coming, help me with the change, and I can do more.”
Whether it is a business attempting digital transformation or our experience from a winning sports team, we see that crafting and shaping change is about working with the nuances and complexities of people as well as getting the best from them to do things differently. By being the change we wish to see and treating others as we ourselves would wish to be treated, we form an emotional bond to align interests and values in those around us who we then influence. The environment for the team is changed, the behaviors are instilled, and the results achieved. The change to a winning team has come from an emergent behavior by the actions of empowered individuals who have ownership with the alignment of interests and values.
The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic saw people from around the world stand up and help each other in an emergent behavior. The emergent behavior included the sharing of time, goods, and skills and expertise. A change in the environment occurred, behaviors were shaped, and an outcome of responding to COVID-19 and the new normal was seen. This emergent behavior was crafted and shaped through the actions of empowered individuals having ownership with pride in who they are and what they did. Knowing the issue, the importance to them, what was needed to be done, and where to get help enabled people to better themselves and those around them.
Whether you are leading transformation in a country, or coaching and mentoring a business through change, or wanting to influence your team, this book provides a hands-on approach to bringing real and sustainable change through the betterment of people. A range of pragmatic and practical experience and advice is brought together in a series of chapters to form some self-contained guidelines within an overall approach to successfully achieving change. Please feel free to mix and match what you need for your circumstance to help you to help those around you.
We hope this book has grabbed your attention and that it will resonate with your views, experiences, and goals and aspirations. Thank you for your most valued gift, your time, and we hope to repay your investment for you and those you help.