Perhaps you’ve heard Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: Doing the same things over and over but expecting different results. Based on what most of us see in most workplaces out there, apparently we’ve got a lot of insane people in the world. But the truth is that nothing changes if nothing changes.

Some people love change while other hate it, so what do we do when change is needed? How can we get those who hate it to go along?

The answer, it seems, is “it depends on how it’s presented.” In his article A Road Map for Employee Engagement written for Management-Issues.com, Andy Parsley of Green Lion, a consultancy out of Flintshire, England, says “People love change—they can hardly get enough of it.” To support his position he points to the popularity of all the home makeover shows and the booming business at home improvement stores.

Still, Parsley’s blanket statement of “People love change” draws shudders from some people I know. That is, until they hear the rest of his thinking: “If people are involved in change and their input to the process is valued, they will readily engage with it.”

Ahh! The key! Parsley solves the buy-in problem with perfect accuracy: People willingly engage in change if they have genuine input to the process. What people don’t like is having change forced upon them with little advanced notice. Or worse yet, no notice at all.

Since solving problems is a bulk of what managers and leaders do, we have to make changes just to survive. So — to get the best buy-in, it appears some managers (especially autocratic and authoritarian-style managers) need to change the way they implement change.

After all, nothing changes if nothing changes.

Any good stories on how you’ve implemented change in your workplace? All tips are helpful!

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Filed in Work, Business, Opinion, Training, Management, Leadership, Workplace