3 Keys to Successful Change and Innovation
Today, life is not as it was 20 years ago, or even 6 months ago. Everything is changing: the climate, the economy, the way we work. For example, companies do no longer provide a secure lifelong haven: they are acquired, merged or they file for bankruptcy, suddenly leaving employees at all levels without a job. If you apply for a job, your cover letter and CV play a secondary role: what counts is what you post on Facebook or Linkedin. Professionals work from anywhere in the world, often without ever meeting their customers, employer or colleagues in person. They need to find other ways to build relationships that create trust.
Change is here: how are you responding to it?
Are you clinging to the past, afraid of losing security, or are you getting ready for change and innovation? Is your innovation random, or is it organized and structured? It doesn’t matter whether you are thinking of yourself personally or of your organization. Are you resisting change, or are you leading it? If you do not pro-actively get ready for change, things will change anyway, and you may not like what you get.
If you do recognize the need for change, here are 3 keys to successfully leading change and innovation.
Key #1: Leadership
Personally or within your organization, the first key to successful innovation is taking responsibility for your own change and becoming pro-active. This is about (personal) leadership, and it includes identifying the purpose of change, developing a supporting mindset, creating a powerful vision and action plan, leveraging your resources effectively, and following through. Along with it comes your ability to effectively communicate the need for change to others, so they can understand the benefits and support you.
Key #2: Collaboration
Change and innovation require new perspectives, new solutions and new habits, and this is very difficult to do by yourself. When you collaborate with others with the purpose of growing, generating new ideas, solving problems and implementing change, you move forward much faster. Why so? Because you (or your organization) make decisions and act based on past experiences, past habits and rules, and based on what you want to see, no matter if it benefits or damages you. Just think of self-sabotaging thoughts, beliefs and behaviours, or of ineffective systems or processes that someone established years ago. When you are open for collaboration, you focus on what you do best while allowing your weak spots to be filled by other people’s excellence.
For example, being open for collaboration may include involving your team, or even suppliers and clients to gain different ideas and perspectives. Or creating ambassadors among your employees and clients who like and believe in what you do. Or partnering with a coach who challenges you to move beyond your limiting beliefs or behaviours, think out of the box, and follow through effectively with your projects.
Key #3: Integration
Change and innovation require the integration of new behaviors and systems in the current environment. It means that you need to let go of ineffective behaviors and systems, and find effective ways to integrate the new ones so that they become a habit for everyone. Successful integration requires behavioral change as well a measurement of the results. This allows you to act with focus and consistency, to adjust the course if needed, and to keep improving.
Conclusion
As the world is evolving rapidly, resisting change just makes it more difficult. Instead, leading change gives us the opportunity to control it to a certain extent, and to grow. Today, the purpose of change and innovation is not to simply move from one set of habits to another one that we will stick to for the next 10 years. Today we are called to open our mind and heart to the fact that we need to become more flexible as a habit. This is an opportunity to uncover and experience our true potential, because in order to change and innovate ourselves, we are called to move beyond our self-imposed boundaries and limitations.
At the same time, it becomes more important than ever to get clear about our values, purpose and ultimate goal for our life or business. Because when we know exactly where we are heading to – and why – we are flexible enough to adjust to change while at the same time being strong and focused as we resume the route to what matters. Changes are challenging, and yet they are the biggest opportunity for growth and for exciting and rewarding innovation.
About the Author
Myriam Callegarin helps global corporate managers and entrepreneurs to successfully navigate the challenges of career and business reinvention. Find practical tools and inspiration in the Resource Center.
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