Babies and Change

Thinking of how you implement change!

So I found myself in another situation recently that spurred some thoughts on how change can affect a company.

A few weeks ago, I had to change my Son’s bath mat as it was a bit old and knackered. So, I decided the best solution was just to buy a new one. I searched and found one that I believed was even better than before (it was mould proof and more grippy) and a complete upgrade. 

Without any hesitation, I threw the old one away and changed it for the new one. Cut to my surprise when my Son refused to get in the bath because he didn’t like the new mat.

After a couple of nights fighting and struggling to get him to bathe, I realised I went about it the wrong way. I wanted to implement a change and thought I had found a far superior product that my customer (in this case my two-year old) would be very happy with and assumed he would see the benefits I did but he didn’t.

This led me to think about when companies implement a change. For example, a board may decide that they have worked up or found a better system and just roll it out. However, it’s not always received as well as they thought. 

I realised where I had gone wrong - rather than just making the change, I should have spoken to my son first and explained that the old one was no good anymore and gotten his help in choosing a new one. I could have worked with the customer at this point to find out what he wanted from a bath mat (which was not a grippy blue coloured one). Had I consulted him and taken him on the journey, I would have saved a lot of money and time. Instead I ended up throwing out the new bath mat and picking up a new version of the one he had before.

The lesson learned for any type of change was that no matter how small, communication and taking those affected on the journey is critical for success!

If you’re undertaking a programme of change, get in touch with us here at Quinton Davies to see who we have for you.