Progress vs Change

Progress Vs Change – Don’t Leave Change to Chance

So what is change?

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the word “change” is defined as “to become different”. It is also defined as “to undergo transformation, transition or substitution”.

What drives change?

Life constantly changes. And the world in which we function changes too. People change. Technology changes. The Disability industry is driven to change by governmental, financial and social influences. Attitudes towards people with disabilities are changing. Funding models are changing. The way we interact with the relevant government department is changing. Legislation is changing to give consumers more power. Technology is changing. It is constantly improving. A common underlying theme underpinning these changes is increased competitiveness for service providers. And there are seemingly endless ways businesses need to change to keep up.

Within the Disability sector, we see businesses sitting at either end of the “change” spectrum. Many organisations suffer from a lethargy towards change, doing things simply because they have always done them. Changing processes only when legislation tells them to. These organisations don’t truly consider the full impact of the change. Sometimes it can be due to resource shortages, and sometimes it can be due to underestimating the urgency to change.

Meanwhile, other organisations rush into change. At a theoretical level, they understand the deeper impact of a changing industry. These organisations can be seen to be changing at speed, above and beyond what the legislation tells them to. These businesses can be seen rapidly replacing manual processes with systems, adopting different processes, and new establishing business roles knowing they need to change to keep up. These changes are often implemented under the guise of ‘innovation’ and ‘competitiveness’. But does this endless change deliver the results these organisations were hoping for? Not always. Let’s look at this in a bit more detail.

Can we have too much change?

Businesses and people can get caught up with belief that “Busy = Productive” and that “Change = Progress.” But that is not always true.  John Wooden wisely stated “Although there is no progress without change, not all change is progress” (Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court). And sadly, there are many well-meaning organisations caught in this belief today. They know they need to change. They do a lot of work. They make a lot of noise. And then they rush to implement a solution only to have it deliver no value.

Rushing to implement any major change without due consideration is fraught with peril. Where a change is implemented without ensuring the change is reflects true progress, the impact is noticeable. And it isn’t positive. The business receives no value from the change, and staff adopting the change are left feeling disengaged. People who ‘just want to get the job done’ try to circumvent processes that add no value. Staff members in positions like this are often inaccurately labelled as being resistant to change or ‘blockers’ on the road to improvements. But are these labels are a little harsh? Perhaps these staff members can see that not all change is progress.

 Where is the balance?

Perhaps if we shift the conversation from “what do we need to change?” towards “what do we need to progress?” we might see businesses spend more time focusing on what is really required to competitiveness. Or any other strategic or operational goal for that matter. Perhaps it would be beneficial to spend more time considering root causes of current problems, all perceived options, current goals and required timeframes. Will a new IT system really solve all those problems?

Take the time to consider the following questions before implementing changes to processes, policies and technology:

◊How does this help us achieve our goal?
◊Does this solve the underlying challenges?
◊Does this change create other challenges we will need to solve in the future?; and
◊What benefit do we get from delivering this change at a fast speed?

These questions help separate change from progress. They help identify staff who are genuinely resistant to change, rather than those who are tired of delivering no value. While we can’t always have the timeframes we want to meet changing legislative requirements, we can take this approach when we want to see real change at a fundamental business level.