CHAPTER 1
How We View Change
Before getting to the specifics of what change is and how to make the results of changes in our lives more positive, let’s consider what a statistically valid sample of people (such as you and me) have to say on the subject.
The following summarizes the attitudes and opinions of 512 individuals between eighteen and seventy years old living in the United States.1 When you look at their answers to questions about change, you’ll see that your views are the views of many.
It is fairly rare in surveys to find things that “everyone” or “no one” “always” or “never” believes, but you wouldn’t guess that based on how we talk—for example, “Everyone’s going.” “No one shops there.” or “I am totally okay with that.”
However, rather than absolutes, we find a wide divergence of opinion. And when it comes to how people feel about change, things are no different.
The first question sets the stage for all that follow, and there are only two instances where a majority agrees that the statement describes them. All others are below a majority (less than 51 percent); in several cases, they are low to the point of being—at best—a significant minority (approximately 25 percent) if not an outright small group (10 percent or less).
There is much to learn from these data and little way to define people based on just one answer. For example, the 62 percent who feel that change is inevitable include some of the 54 percent who say they are optimistic, along with the 14 percent who self-describe themselves as pessimistic.
The approximately 20 percent who say they love change is also a diverse group, including men and women of all ages, some of whom are content with the changes in their lives and some not. What about the 46 percent who say there’s a lot they’d like to change relative to the 37 percent who feel they can change whatever they wish? Are they mostly mutually exclusive, with a few in one group also being in the other? Possibly but not likely. Identifying how you would like something to be is not the same as knowing how to make it so.
Perhaps the most important conclusion is the fact that there is so much divergence in these answers. This suggests that when it comes to change, there is conflict in the minds of many, and if that is how you feel, at least you know you are not alone.
OUR CHANGE “BATTING AVERAGE”
Each of us has, at many different times, in countless different circumstances, attempted to make change happen to our benefit. How has that worked for you? Are you happy with the outcome? Look at this group’s responses to see how you compare.
Question 2 asked, “Have you attempted to make what you would consider ‘big changes’ in either your job/business or personal life?”
• Seventy-three percent indicated they had, whereas 27 percent indicated they hadn’t.
Question 3 asked, “Was the change you attempted to make in your job/business, your personal life, or both?”
• Job/business: 15 percent
• Personal: 37 percent
• Both: 49 percent
Now for question 4: “How did your attempts at change turn out?”
• Very well, I successfully made the changes I wanted: 42 percent.
• Okay, but not completely what I had in mind: 35 percent.
• Not well; I was unable to make the changes I wanted: 23 percent.
Three of four people have attempted what they consider to be big changes in their lives, with half the changes being in both their professional and personal lives. And interesting for reasons you will come to understand later, only approximately 40 percent report complete satisfaction, with an additional one third finding things okay, and the remaining 25 percent indicating poor outcomes.
As an aside, imagine being a manager in a company charged with facilitating major changes in the way the company does business. If that were you, which of these individuals would you want to have working on your change initiatives? Who would you not want? Not sure? Keep reading.
THE CHANGING FUTURE
Question 5 asked, “Are you currently thinking about making what you consider to be major changes in your job or business and/or your personal life?”
• Job or business: 10 percent
• Personal life: 22 percent
• Both: 20 percent
• No: 49 percent
What do you think of the 49 percent who say they are not thinking about major changes? If you aren’t comfortable with change, you might feel a bit envious and assume they have nothing to change.
This may be so, but possible alternative reasons for their answers include the following:
• They had just completed all the major changes they needed to make at the time they answered this question.
• It never occurred to them to think about change.
• People don’t think about change until they are forced to.
Whatever the case, those not considering major changes will experience just as much change as those who are thinking about making changes. Change is inevitable, a fact acknowledged by two thirds of the sample. So what’s on the minds of the 51 percent who are considering changes? Question 6 (“What changes are you considering?”) provides the answer.
• Improve a relationship: 24 percent
• Where I live: 20 percent
• End a relationship: 15 percent
• Begin a relationship: 12 percent
• Career: 10 percent
• Improve health: 9 percent
• Have children: 7 percent
• Lose weight: 5 percent
The above categories in question 6 summarize detailed responses from those who plan change. These people are not only considering “career changes.” They’re going to quit jobs, find new jobs, seek or refuse promotions, ask for raises, transfer to new locales, work harder, slow down, and start or close their own companies.
This level of detail is also present for the other categories. They are investing time and energy considering what to do, whether or not the contemplated change is something they desire. Like it or not, ready or not, they understand change is on the horizon. But are they prepared for what that means?
CHANGE YES—BUT HOW?
At any given time, 50 percent of us are contemplating significant changes. You’d think we’d also have plans to increase the odds of success, but as question 7 indicates (“Do you have a specific way or process you use for changing things?”), far more don’t than do.
• I don’t have a way or process for changing things. I would just do whatever comes to mind: 61 percent.
• I do have a way or process for changing things and would use that: 39 percent.
Does a specific methodology help with the outcomes? Remember the 23 percent in question 4 who said they failed to make their desired changes? That number decreases to just 9 percent among those who say they have a specific methodology. Yes, a plan helps.
I’d even venture a guess that a significant number of the 9 percent who had a plan but failed to make their desired changes did so because they had the wrong plan.
Perhaps the most uncertainty comes when contemplating change in our personal versus professional lives. Is the approach the same for both? According to the sample, the answer is a resounding…we’re not sure.
When asked if the process people should use to change something at work is the same or similar to the process they should use to change something in their personal lives, 36 percent said it was the same, whereas 32 percent thought the opposite. The remaining 32 percent were not sure.
You are correct if you assume there are many different ways to attempt personal and professional change, but remember the goal is not attempting change but achieving positive results. As you will see in later chapters, our collective track record in doing that is not all that good.
WHERE WE LOOK FOR HELP
Results aside, question 8 (“Which, if any, of the following sources of information have you used to better understand how you can make change happen?”) tells us where people turn for help when contemplating change.
• Asked advice from friends or family: 53 percent.
• Read books about how to change things: 35 percent.
• Read magazine articles about how to make change happen: 28 percent.
• I haven’t done any of these things: 27 percent.
• Talked with a professional, such as a medical doctor, a psychiatrist, or a psychologist: 25 percent.
• Asked business associates for advice: 14 percent.
• Attended a seminar led by someone who knows how to make change happen: 10 percent.
• Talked with a psychic: 3 percent.
The preceding suggests hope for authors writing about change, but still only one in three individuals rely on books. Slightly more than 50 percent are looking to others for guidance, many of which are equally at a loss. (“The blind leading the blind” comes to mind.) Lastly, the psychic community is at the bottom of the list, but “experts” don’t fare much better. There is no clear agreement as to where one should go to learn how to make positive changes happen. Sadly, most people really don’t know what to do.
THE ROLE OF BUSINESS
We’ve looked at how people view change, some of which will be altered by what their companies say and do. But how do employees feel about willingness of their employers to help them manage change—in the workplace and at home?
Although the musical refrain “we are family” may be as common in employee handbooks as it is at wedding receptions, when it comes to...
