Change mindset in detail

Reach for the stars is our story about ambition. It is fuelled by our observation that change ever so often seems a matter of doing what has been done before. We think for successful change one should go for the highest attainable. Do not satisfice with what is readily and easily available.

You will see and hear us talking about chart the waters a lot. It stems from our observation that a lot of change simply lacks proper preparation. In our view you cannot stress enough the relevance of visualising your way ahead. You can’t foresee eevrything, but you can oversee what is to be expected as a lot of information is publicly available with little effort. Ignoring what is foreseeable is at least reprehensible and irresponsible.

Keep the fire burning is our adagium for making change happen. Frequently, we see change taking off high spirited, full of good intentions and energetic. After a while, everything seems to slow down, disappear in the background and things stay as they were. You should pay attention what is needed to be safe and sure, and get change done. You simply cannot dodge and trust that change will save itself.

No one will gladly admit to not keeping an open mind. Yet, sometimes our biases seem to take over. And then we stick to what we feel comfortable with, with what we know and have learned to appreciate. A change mindset means one can learn anything valuable from anybody, even (or often especially) from outside your organisation or area of expertise. Don’t see, trust and value only what you know and can do yourself.

Do accept that you need to make  fixes work. Like legendary Dutch soccer player Johan Cruijff said, ‘a bag of money has never scored a goal’. Don’t rely on solutions to speak for themselves. There is no silver  bullet or golden case that works every time for everybody. You have to understand what it is for people to make changes work.

Make all change personal. Meaning is always meaning to someone. People think, act, feel and so on in their own tempo, rhythm and manners. Don’t abstract or conceptualize. Your framework is an epistemic device, it is not what should happen in real life. Do embrace voluntary participation, as it is people who choose to make fixes work.

An last but not least, putting change first. Do focus on what you want to become. If you come out of rehab, there is a million things to do. Staying clean is the only thing your should focus on. So that is where your energy and resources are most valuable. Don’t think and act like everything is important at any time.