9 Key Questions to Guide Change - Part 2

9 Key Questions to gudie change << Part 1

  5. Control: Can you start and maintain the outcome?

Change by chance is not a guarantee to a successful outcome. Sometimes there are elements outside of our control that will play a role in achieving the desired outcome. How much is under your direct control? What can you do directly to get the outcome? What can you do and what do others have to do in order to achieve this result? Who will help you? How can you motivate others to help you rather than feeling they have to help you? What will make them want to help you?

 6. Ecology: What are the consequences of the process and result?

Every action has a wider impact of which you must be aware and prepared.  What else could happen when you achieve your outcome? The secondary consequences can sometimes become more of a problem than where you started.

Think about who else will be affected, and how will they be affected?  What sacrifices will you have to make in order to achieve this outcome? Are you prepared to make those sacrifices? What kind of time and effort will it take to implement the change?

Achieving change requires commitment and discipline. Understanding, preparing for and addressing the ecology impacts will ensure your own subconscious and potentially disgruntled team members are dedicated to making things happen.

 7. Identity: Is the outcome in line with who you are?

As an individual person or as a team; the outcome must uphold the image of who you think you are. Many projects are abandoned because the person felt “it’s just not me!”

 8. Synergy: How do your outcomes fit together?

It is hard to remember you are building a high rise apartment block when you are digging down into the ground to lay foundations. When your motivation fades and you become disillusioned with the small details and annoying little tasks ask yourself: How does this task help me achieve my outcome? Slot each task and step taken into how it builds into achieving the change desired.

 9. Action Plan: What to do next?

It is always good to define the first step that needs to be taken. Make sure you clearly define what comes after that first step. What must happen next? Laying out who must do what and when will help map the process. Make sure your team members know how to outline their outcomes on these nine principles. This will assist the alignment of all the tasks to build to your crowning moment as you achieve the change you so wanted.

When all nine questions have been answered and your map for the way forward is as clear as day, reach inside yourself and drag your ambition to the surface. A relentless passion to succeed is a motivating force that will fuel your team in difficult days. Be excited and show it. This desire to win will help you solve and overcome any obstacle that may pop up in your path. Stick to your plan until success sticks to you.

<< Back to part 1