Failure to Change

Nearly two-thirds of major change initiatives fail. Really. Only one-third make it. Are you a betting person? While there is much in healthcare today that we cannot control, there are some things that we can greatly influence. Change is one of them.

Why does change fail? And what must you do to ensure success?

Here are six key areas to address.

1. Lack of a clear vision. To affect change, your organization must have a compelling reason to change. There must be a vision of what you are trying to achieve, what success looks like and why. You are asking people to leave what they know for something unknown. The journey, no matter how long, includes uncertainty. Uncertainty can paralyze your organization.
2. Lack of motivation and buy-in. Increase your chances of success by including your entire organization in planning the change. You need buy-in to succeed. Members of the staff and leadership team must be motivated. Include them in the planning process. By including staff in planning for changes that will impact them, you are empowering your team to help create its future, thereby reducing the anxiety of what it might look like.
3. Compulsive communications. Change often fails due to failure to effectively communicate the vision, progress and successes along the way. Communication – the two-way kind – is critical to this process. Share information through formal and informal channels. Ensure that it is timely, consistent and transparent. Reduce anxiety and uncertainty through clear, effective communications.
4. Leadership. Often defined as “having responsibility for doing the right things,” leadership is responsible for setting the tone, knowing the way forward and leading the way. Without an effective leadership team, no change initiative can succeed. While staff members want to believe, trust and follow the leadership, you must be the kind of leadership team that has earned and deserved that trust and following. Change initiatives depend on it. The leadership team’s failure to lead is often the cause of change failure. You can control this.
5. Management. Managing the day-to-day impacts of the change initiative is where the rubber meets the road. Planning is important. Execution is critical. Having a strong and effective management team to lead the process is a major contributing factor to change success, and lack thereof is also a major factor in change failure. The communication process employs management. The process of motivation and buy-in requires management, as does the process of visioning. Management is integral to the process, a leading factor that contributes to either success or failure. This is your choice.
6. SMART goals. Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Realistic. Timely. Plans involving change must employ SMART goals. Execution is critical for change success. SMART goals are critical for effective execution. The more specific your goals, the greater your chance of success. Change occurs in small steps. The ability to plan milestones along the way, measure their achievement, celebrate their success, and have a goal for the next step all contribute to the success of change efforts. You can manage this.

The change initiative is not a simple one. But it is necessary in today’s environment. Failure to change – as well as to adapt to changing conditions – can easily result in organizational stagnation and failure. Control what you can control, manage what you can manage, and communicate effectively. You can be part of the one-third of organizations that succeed rather than the two-thirds that are doomed to failure.