For more than two decades, I worked inside a food manufacturing plant, wearing a uniform, hairnet, steel-toed boots and working at rotating stations. I did everything from packing cheese to stacking skids to driving forklifts. On Fridays, we tore down equipment for sanitation. On sanitation nights, I used to take a deep breath and say, “I can do anything for eight hours.”
What I learned on that factory floor, during a period of reinvention and desire for change, is the same dynamic I now see in large-scale corporate transformations.
- Transformative change passes through three stages.
- Initiatives don’t fail because of strategy.
- Transformation strategies fail because leaders miss the fulcrum point of change.
Both individuals and organizations move through three predictable stages before real change happens. I call them the “Three Tragedies of Change.”
Tragedy one: Something’s off, but we can’t name it
In the first tragedy, you feel some friction. Perhaps you notice a lack of engagement, unwanted turnover, dips in performance or certain initiatives stalling. You see an execution gap and can’t quite diagnose what’s happening. The language is vague:
- “Morale is low.”
- “Communication could improve.”
- “We need alignment.”
In organizations, this is where execution risk begins to spread quietly. You sense something is misaligned, but no one has the language to diagnose or define it clearly.
Tragedy two: We know what’s wrong, but don’t believe it’s fixable
At this point, we’ve made some gains in naming the situation. It sounds like this:
- There’s a lack of follow-through.
- We have a culture of mediocrity.
- Accountability is missing.
- It’s time to do a reorganization to straighten things out
In this stage, it’s easy to think the system is stronger than personal agency. You’ll hear statements such as “That’s just how it is here,” and “We’ve tried before, and nothing changed.” At the core, there’s learned helplessness and frustration. Over time, beliefs shift and hope emerges.
Tragedy three: We believe in change but avoid the risk
At this stage, the leadership team knows what must be addressed, and there’s a clear definition of the situation, the outcome and the obstacles. The first attempt is to do what feels like progress: It’s the getting ready to get ready stage. This is where a 90-day plan is developed, a lunch and learn is presented and a reorganization is planned. These initiatives are activities designed to avoid the risk of doing the difficult work that change requires.
Tragedy three is where most initiatives quietly die. The desire is intact, the belief lives, but there’s a need for a mental and behavioral shift to align with the place where change happens.
The place where change happens
There is a place where change happens, and it’s not about the momentum of action without clarity. Change doesn’t happen just because there’s a 90-day plan, or a reorganization so that two conflictual people can work in peace, and it’s not in the consensus, the certainty or the strategic plan. The place where change happens is a mental and behavioral state — an emotional energy, if you will — and it’s called willingness.
Willingness is where change begins. The willingness to
- Confront operational truth
- Define constraints
- Acknowledge trade-offs
- Risk of being misunderstood
- Have difficult conversations about performance and behavior
- Commit to building a culture of accountability
I learned these principles through embodiment. When I decided to leave the plant, I didn’t have certainty or a guaranteed outcome. I had enough clarity to make a distinction; to know that even though I didn’t know much about a new future, I knew one thing clearly: “This isn’t it.”
That was enough light to take the first step. And the amazing thing about clarity is that sometimes you start with just enough clarity to take one step, but with each step you get more clarity until you have the clarity of the sun.
In executive settings, I see leaders waiting for certainty before acting. But certainty is a fantasy, and clarity is an awareness and a decision.
The executive choice
In executive settings, I often see leaders waiting for certainty before acting, because certainty feels safe. But certainty isn’t what drives change. Certainty is a feeling, based on prediction. Clarity, on the other hand, is a flicker of light; an awareness that leads to a decision.
The fulcrum point of change is a state of willingness. The way to identify the opportunity is to look for stagnation. Once you notice, you can discern what you’ve been unwilling to see or take action on.
All the planning, strategy sessions and 90-day plans in the world won’t move the needle unless leaders are willing to act. Because at scale, willingness at the top becomes momentum everywhere else.
Without that pivot, even the best strategy remains theoretical.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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