Corplite

Easy Results Don’t Exist . . . Tough People Do!

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In a comment to my blog last week, a friend shared the following story about a student she teaches. I changed the names, but the story is told exactly as shared:

I had a similar experience just last week with a struggling student named John. John took the same test on the computer thirteen times. He complained, “Mrs. Smith the computer keeps making me take this test over and over again!” I gently explained to him that he failed it all thirteen times and that maybe he should change his answers and he might get a different result. And, what do you now, altering his responses finally led to success!

I share this story because most of my clients are financial institutions, and this is exactly how I feel when helping them with a change initiative. Maybe it’s moving to a sales culture, or shifting from service to customer experience, but leaders want elevated results whatever the change. I always let them know that elevated results = changed behavior = pain, and that some pushback is inevitable. They’re always fine with that until pushback begins, and I get their resistance through phrases like:

We are like a family here - I don’t want anybody to be unhappy (Note: The mediocre to poor performers are going to be unhappy because more effort will be required, so just be ready for it)

We don’t see a need to change what we do, we just need to get better results (Note: Seriously? You know the definition of insanity, right?)

You know all of our customers love us, and they’re not happy with the changes going on (Note: Customers can love you and have only 1.2 products of 15 with you, and how do they know about the discomfort of change unless the employees are telling them about it?)

This hope for easy change doesn’t limit itself to bankers. Harvard Business School even published a book called “Change without Pain.” While I’m sure it drew a lot of attention, I can’t imagine that anyone who’s experienced true, positive change would agree with the title. Let’s face it - we’re all a little bit like John. We don’t like the results we’re getting, so we keep taking the test over and over again, providing the same answers but desperately hoping for a better grade. We say we could change our results if:

• We had a free product to sell (Note: Free products aren’t the pride of great salespeople; you can give those away!)
• We had the right people on the bus (Note: Duh! All “A” players would make any company successful, but since they make up 8% - 10% of the population that’s not exactly a plan)
• We had better rates than our competitors (Note: Close cousin to the free product approach)
• We had nice brochures to give to our customers (Note: Oh, yeah, the last five financial products I got were because of the kickin’ brochures :))

You get the idea - we all choose the magic bullet over the change effort.

Bad News: There is no magic bullet. Change must include a point of discomfort and stress. People will either choose to make the change live and breathe through their individual efforts, or they won’t.

Good News: People can be influenced to change, and changed behaviors DO get results.

Every company I’ve ever worked with that was willing to go through a phase of discomfort got a lift in results. Change works, but it’s not easy. As Jillian Michaels (of “The Biggest Loser”) says: The body only changes when you place stress on it. It’s when the body adapts to the stress that it begins to change. After doing her workouts, I can attest to her sentiment. After years of helping companies through change, the same is true for them.

Ever tried one of those workout machines that promised a new body with an easy workout? They never work. Easy = Easy $ for the distributor, No results for you! Real change requires real effort, real guidance, and real people.  So quit taking the test over and over again. Be ready to work hard and risk different answers. Do that, and you just might improve your results. And if you want to discuss your change effort, give me a call for a free consultation. Think of me as the Jillian Michaels of corporate change.