New Reality...

Nobody ever changed anything because of a good idea. People change when they get excited about a new reality. Paul Burbridge of Riding Lights Theatre Company put it this way: a good play is one that makes the audience feel so much that they cannot help thinking. Emotions drive powerful thinking – not the other way around.

Legend has it that Queen Victoria was put on a diet by her physician – which was a good idea because she had too much weight for her small frame. The usual punch line to this anecdote is that she enjoyed the special food so much she added it to her normal meals. The underlying truth is that she never got excited about herself as a slim person. She did not feel the new reality enough to do what was necessary to make it happen.

It is the same in any situation. Companies introduce new initiatives to improve customer service, reorganise departments or speed up production. Management is frustrated because the initiative does not work. The idea was good, the training excellent, the implementation plan beyond criticism – why didn’t it work? Only one ingredient is missing but it is like baking powder in a Victoria Sponge! The people who are critical to its success have simply not been excited by a new reality; they do not see themselves as players. The story unfolds around them as they observe and carry on with their work.

If we want change to happen effectively and completely we have to find a way for our people to feel it – see, touch, hear, smell and taste it. Only then will we be able to create the new reality that will transform our business and our lives!

Jane Kustner

Dale Carnegie Instructor