"Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end"
Change is a fascinating topic and as a transformation leader overseeing our strategic transformation initiatives, I spend a lot of time investigating it, talking about it, reading, and writing about it.
It seems like in this era of "change is the only constant", everyone is always looking for a change, in business, and in their personal life. Business leaders and researchers as one, are all promoting the need for constant innovation motion. "Re-invent the business". "Disrupt the market or be disrupted", they tell you.
But, then, when change comes knocking on the doors, and the real work needs to be done, organizations face the very surprising reality of what change really means.
When I'm asked about it, I always say that, yes, change is very exciting, it brings new opportunities, and opens up new worlds and growth possibilities.
But it's also many other things.
It's Scary
It brings a lot of fear and uncertainty. To everyone involved, from both personal and business perspectives. It surely means you'll face new challenges. It might mean that you will need to start over and lose parts of what you already achieved. It probably means that some things you are very good at - will not be relevant anymore.
It's Confusing
A lot of times you will not know where the change is leading, how to handle it, and how to act in the new circumstances.
It's Uncomfortable
When facing change, you will need to move away from your comfort zone. Do something you have never done before, and operate in a new environment.
It's Hard
To make the change happen you will probably need to put in a lot more effort, work harder, and invest more time to learn new skills.
It's Unpredictable
Once you go on a new journey - you cannot predict the results. Predictability comes from repetition. From trends. When you go through a significant change, it most likely means that you have no past to lean on to predict the future.
But Most of All - It's Messy
Yes. Messy.
Even if you'll try hard, very hard, and plan ahead. Even if you dedicate a lot of resources, and time. Even if you'll start by learning, benchmarking, and taking lots of (sometimes expensive) advisors. You will always end up facing the long, not-sexy and unavoidable phase of any change.
The Messy part.
When a company decides it's going toward a significant transformation, a lot of effort is invested in the decision itself. Numerous hours, meetings, and resources are invested in making the "right" decision. Then, finally, the change is announced. The CEO stands on a stage (physical or virtual) and explains why and what. The line managers follow up on this message and present the detailed plans, how in X amount of time if we all do this and that, we will achieve our exciting goals.
But then comes the middle. The messy middle.
You may realize that the plans you made failed to take into account some important factors. Or... the leaders who supported the change left, and others came to replace them, with different perspectives on how the change should be implemented. Or... the external environment changed, new competitors entered the market, old competitors gained momentum, recession, new technologies ... life.
The natural reaction of employees will be that they are scared, confused, frustrated, excited, or sometimes even indifferent ("been there, done that... nothing ever changes"). They may resist the change more than expected, and on rare occasions, but it happens, they may embrace the change faster than expected.
Customers will probably not react to the change exactly as expected. They may ignore it, hate it, love it, embrace it, or all of the above. The same goes for investors and partners.
You get it... messy.
Actually, as cheesy as it may sound, the best quote I found to describe any strategic business transformation is surprisingly a sentence said by Robin Sharma, that refers to personal change processes, but very accurately describes the business world as well:
"Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end".
And that is really why so many change initiatives fail. The messy middle comes and gets in their way. Most organizations don't have the stamina, resilience, and commitment needed to actually get through this phase on their way to the promised land.
So now what?
The best advice I can only give you is this. Don't start any significant strategic business transformation without a very well thought out, explained, and accepted answer to one question: Why. Why make the change. Why it's so important for us, that we are ready to go through this process. Otherwise, when you'll find yourself pushing rocks up the hill, on a wet cold night, you will probably give it up.
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