instead of covert change, co-create change
Good-hearted, people-centric leaders can miss a big opportunity ahead of a season of big change. They worry about burdening their people with responsibility for the thinking, doing, and talking the changes will require. People are already busy! The change doesn’t fit neatly within their job description. A good service-oriented leader should protect people from such difficulties, right?
Maybe not! There’s an alternative option, almost the inverse of this protective one, that has higher upside (for the team and for teammates) and honors people’s agency.
In protective mode, the leader minimizes the amount she talks about the change and the number of people involved in producing it. She wants the new steady state, after the change, to arrive smoothly. She wants a good user experience for her teammates as the organization undertakes the change. None of this is wrong in spirit.
But almost all of it triggers unintended consequences that can make the change experience more painful and slow for everyone. You give folks permission to interact with the season of change like consumers, who issue hot takes and star-based ratings and maybe have resentful commentary, instead of like creators, who generously make moves that make the change a cooperative success.
Instead of covert change, co-create change. Assign responsibility and extend invitations.
“We’re about to add 15 people to the team. This could feel like a strictly ops or HR initiative. It is not. All of you, all of us, bear responsibility for making this go exceptionally well. Here’s what that looks like for you, in particular.”
“At the other side of this transition, xyz should be true. Once we get there, you can take pride in having made that so.”
“This is who we are. This is how we roll. Thanks for being the kind of person that makes us this kind of team.”
-Eric
