MSLD 635 Module 3 - 50 Reasons Not to Change/The Tribes We Lead

50 Reasons Not to Change… The Tribes We Lead

Godin (2009) says we live in a new model of leadership, where the way we make change is not by using money or power to lever a system, but by leading, by connecting a tribe of people who are desperate to be connected to each other, by leading a movement and making change.

People has a natural resistance to change (Brown, 2011; Heathfield, 2018), , giving constant excuses to avoid the “threatening” aspect that change brings. When I hear a colleague giving excuses, before even considering the details, or gathering a bit of data behind the change, instantly I think “what a closed mind” and on the same moment I start preaching about the big picture, all the aspect that could have been involved and all possible positive impacts. My most common reaction is to present a holistic perspective of the changing process.

Although I am aware of the power of change, and that it is essentially important in development, as a human I also resist. Considering Godin’s list, I tend to use "this will not stand, I can't abide this status quo” or "this one is not important, we need to organize around it." I believe a way I can overcome my resistance thinking is by stepping back and zooming out, trying to look in different angles and also trying to gather more data to understand all the driven forces behind the decision to change.

I personally don’t agree that change is driven by tribes, but I believe that leading by tribes can be an effective strategy on leading change, a way to kick start a change process, before reaching broader audience and followers.

A lesson I can take in this exercise, is a thought given by Godin which I haven’t though through:

“You don't need everyone to create and lead change. It means that the idea you create, the product you create, the movement you create isn't for everyone, it's not a mass thing. That's not what this is about. What it's about instead is finding the true believers."

The human aspect is crucial to the effectiveness of the changing process, in the role of agents or advocates. If as a leader we not necessarily dictate the change, but possibly only lead a change which is already in progress. I believe the same way we only need a small group of people embracing our change, a small group of people also only need a leader to believe in them to spark change. The roles os change agents and advocates is not necessarily related to the formal rank one has in a organization.

References

Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Godin, S. (2009). The tribes we lead. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead/transcript

Heathfield, S. M. (2018, December 10). What Is Resistance to Change? How to Spot Resistance to Change in Your Company. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-resistance-to-change-1918240