What do you need to make the changes 'stick'?

So you've introduced a new process into the business but you notice that the team continues to do the old process. OR you have been working your butt off on a new system but all the Managers can do is question why THEY have to change the way they are doing things when the current way is working so well.

With all of the effort you have put into your project or change plan you become disheartened when everyone seems to be against the idea, or wanting to do things the old way. Making change happen and having the changes stick starts as soon as you begin work on your project and the thing you need most? Resilience!

I don't think I really knew what resilience was until I became a change manager. Change leaders would think the same thing. It's a tenacity that regardless of the resistance that takes place as a result of the change, that the change will continue to go forward until it is embedded. 

What does it take to create resilience?

1) Don't take resistance personally - after all even in your own life I am sure there are some changes you react emotionally to, and then once they happen you realise they weren't such a big deal!

2) Stay positive in the face of criticism -  but don't overpromise or over sell. It is always better to exceed expectations than to just meet them!

3) Prove the naysayers wrong through delivery - I always approach change in a way that it is inevitable. Its just about degrees of change and how committed the leadership team is to it.

4) Admit mistakes and LEARN from them - it sounds crazy right, but I have always found that honesty and acknowledgment of when you are wrong actually has some resistance fall away. All of those lessons build up a sense of resilience over time and you get better and better at introducing change across many landscapes.

All of these things help you keep on keeping on with the change. They allow you to face the resistance but pace yourself for the long game.

How resilient are you?