Change is everywhere in the modern world. No one can avoid it. Some changes are beneficial and make the world a better place. Others are more threatening. Increasingly, we are moving into a world where people and machines are more interconnected and interdependent. AI technologies are constantly optimised to work in conjunction with people and even replace people. We will see this emerge further in the not-too-distant future.
However, technology is rarely a differentiator in business since most tech products are available to all. What differentiates one business from the next is the effectiveness of its people.
But constant and rapid change challenges people’s effectiveness. They find change stressful and have become fatigued by it. They must constantly adapt to keep up with new trends and technology. Over time, this pressure creates problems that affect the business – increased staff turnover, more sick leave, less loyalty, lower morale, poorer performance, and cultural harm.
To avoid these problems, you need a plan to optimise people’s change readiness in your business.
You need a plan that:
The boxes below show some of the ways these problems affect behaviour.
Imagine you are driving your car, and you come to a busy intersection. You need to cross a busy line of traffic to join the flow on the other side. There are few opportunities to cross safely; you must be bold but not reckless. Suddenly you see an opportunity – a slight gap in the traffic. You plant your foot on the accelerator, but the car is slow to respond. When you need it to jump into action, it hesitates.
Businesses are often like this. A leader may see a great opportunity to make progress, but instead of enthusiastic engagement, people hesitate and leaders fumble.
Opportunities are lost, risks increase, and business stalls. When you investigate, you usually find that it goes back to how people perform when they face anxiety, uncertainty, and pressure. You need a change readiness plan to optimise people in your business—not just the technologies they work with.
You need a system and a plan to build your readiness for change. It’s not going to happen by itself. Without an effective system, your unoptimised team or unaligned organisation will undermine your efforts to change.
Your system should be:
⇒ Holistic – You need a system that focuses on both the individual’s readiness for change and the organisation’s readiness. These two must be aligned to support each other and to build long-term capability. This means your system needs a psychological focus and a broader OD focus on the organisation.
⇒ Scientific – You need a system that is based on scientific methods, tested theory, and demonstrated practical effectiveness. Even better if it has been tested overseas with other populations.
⇒ Australian – You need a system that has been developed, tested, and shown to be effective in Australia. A system developed overseas may not be a cultural good fit for Australian conditions.
⇒ Leading edge – You need a system that is based on 21st-century thinking. The world has changed a lot since the 20th century and you need a system that reflects how people think today.
We have been working in the change readiness space for over two decades, researching it and teaching it at the Masters level right here in Australia.
Over that time, we have had the opportunity to write books and put together a system to optimise the change readiness of people and organisations.
We have also had time to test our systems, refine them, and ensure they work as they should.
And the result? We have developed a system to help organisations create practical change readiness plans.
You optimise your technology. Why not optimise your people too? That’s what a change readiness plan will do for you.
Change readiness indirectly supports your financial viability in two ways.
By optimising your people’s change readiness, you improve their capacity for effective self-management and self-leadership. This helps them become more effective and productive, especially under stressful and demanding conditions common during periods of change. This lowers the demands on managers and leaders, freeing them up to focus on other areas.
By aligning the organisation’s change readiness, you create an environment that encourages innovation, creativity, and adaptation. This helps people progress faster, overcome obstacles, solve problems, and make better decisions. It improves leadership, builds trust, and makes the organisation more resilient and competitive.
Change readiness helps you get the best from your people. It supports their health and wellbeing and promotes a positive organisational culture.