A Truth That Influences Their Feelings
Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen in their book, Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (HarperCollins, 2011), write “We cannot predict the future. But we can create it.” However, they note that in order to do this we need to begin now, and work on it routinely over time. As they note, “It’s what you do before the storm hits - the decisions and disciplines and buffers and shock absorbers already in place - that matters most in determining whether your enterprise pulls ahead, falls behind or dies when the storm hits.” Given the current “storms,” we should have begun preparing for them years ago. Still, all is not lost or hopeless. We can start now, and move forward step by step, clarifying who we are, i.e. defining our mission/common identity, and our common understanding/core values about who we work as one team.
As we create this level of clarity and understanding, I am reminded of something John Kotter wrote about in his book, The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations (Harvard Business School Press, 2002). “The single most important message in this book is very simple,” writes Kotter. “People change what they do less because they are given analysis that shifts their thinking than because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings.” He then notes that “The flow of see-feel-change is more powerful than that of analysis-think-change.” He recommends that “... those who are most successful at significant change begin their work by creating a sense of urgency among relevant people.”
In order to increase this level of urgency, and from my perspective in order to increase the focus on working to make change successful at the group level, rather than just at the individual level, Kotter suggests we do two things. First, show “others the need for change with a compelling object that they can actually see, touch, and feel.” Second, show “people valid and dramatic evidence from outside the organization that demonstrates that change is required.” Kotter does not advocate on “focusing exclusively on building a ‘rational’ business case, getting top management approval, and racing ahead while mostly ignoring all the feelings that are blocking change.” He comprehends that feelings may not always be a true perception of reality, but they are, nevertheless, what are causing people to think and work in specific ways.
Yet, as we focus on showing a truth that influences peoples’ feelings, which we hope will result in an increased level of urgency, we need to acknowledge that many people and organizations are quite content with status quo. John Kotter in his book, A Sense of Urgency (Harvard Press, 2008), writes “complacency is much more common than we might think and very often invisible to the people involved.” He continues by explaining that “the opposite of urgency is not only complacency. It’s also a false or misguided sense of urgency that is as prevalent today as complacency itself and more insidious. With a false sense of urgency, an organization does not have a great deal of energized action, but it’s driven by anxiety, anger, and frustration, and not a focused determination to win, and win as soon as is reasonably possible.”
From my experience and observations, complacency, anxiety, anger and frustration are running rampant right now at all levels of society and within many different organizations. This is especially true when attempting to solve problems within complexity. Therefore, leaders need to make an important choice. As Margaret Wheatley in her book, Restoring Sanity: Practices to Awaken Generosity, Creativity, & Kindness in Ourselves and Our Organizations (Berrett-Koehler, 2024), explains: “We change from acting and learning from our actions. We act, learn, and discover what works. Most of us know this is the best process, but we don’t do it. We have enough time to learn - we just keep digging ourselves deeper into the hole of ignorance and failure.” And for me, this is the key, namely to understand that urgency and change happen when we learn from our actions, and create networks of allies and confidants who can help us in this learning process. Then, the flow of see-feel-change becomes grounded in reality, and the subsequent urgency that comes from this grounding is focused and effective.
The Path To Building Commitment And Advocacy
Increasing urgency over time, and convincing a group that a new collective consciousness is necessary in order to be effective is big work. But from my professional experiences and observations, I think there is a parallel track to this work that is not often recognized or valued, and yet is very important for the former to take place.
Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall in their book, Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019), write: “Instead of cascading goals, instead of cascading instructions for actions, we should cascade meaning and purpose. It is shared meaning that creates alignment, and this alignment is emergent, not coerced. Whereas cascaded goals are a control mechanism, cascaded meaning is a release mechanism…. Our people don’t need to be told what to do; they want to be told why.”
It is clarity about the why factor in combination with the urgency factor, i.e. that business as usual is no longer acceptable and is actually dangerous, if not detrimental to the whole of the company, that will generate clarity that is emergent. When solving problems within complexity, I believe the goal should not just be the action of solving the problems before us. Instead, it should be to build action based on commitment and shared advocacy for action. When a team is willing to participate in change, and when there is a recognition that the work of change is meaningful and important, this level of commitment transforms people’s thinking at the individual and team level. And one powerful outcome of this level of commitment is that all involved tend to publicly recommend and support the action. In short, they promote and advocate for the changes that need to take place, i.e. they are champions for the process and outcome of change.
To be continued next Monday.
© Geery Howe 2026
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