In part one of this blog series, we explored the main contributing factors as to why change rarely sticks in an organisation, with people snapping back to what’s familiar. Setting up an organisation for change is the easy part, but the real head scratcher is: what actually makes change stick?
The answer isn’t more energy, more communication, or even better ideas. Instead, it’s a shift in how we think about change itself.
Too often we think of it as something that is ‘done to’ people. A programme is rolled out and a workshop is delivered, and – in the best-case scenario – people leave feeling engaged and enthusiastic. But then, they return to their laptops and it’s business as usual.
This is widely known as ‘sheep dip’ development, when people are exposed to short, one-off interventions that are expected to lead to behaviour change. But as we addressed in part one, staff often revert back to the path of least resistance and the return on investment for workshops and training sessions quickly fades.
It’s not a reflection on the quality of the intervention, just that it was an incomplete way to approach things.
Of course, there is no off-the-shelf approach that can be applied universally. Every organisation has its own context, pressures, habits, and history, and sustainable change has to be shaped around that reality, not imposed onto it. That means moving from delivering change to people, to engaging people with change. It’s a subtle but major distinction.
At Mind Values Leadership, we know that instead of relying on a single intervention, change is supported through an ongoing process. There is, of course, a focus on momentum at the outset, but it’s just as essential to reinforce this practice over time. Crucially, we introduce reflective guardrails so that there are structures in place that allow people to apply new ways of working, pause, reflect, adjust, and try again.
This also allows for space for people to experiment and get things wrong. If people don’t feel able to experiment, and instead have to get things right the first time, they will default back to what feels safe. Sustainable change depends on creating the conditions where learning can happen in real time, within real work, not separate from it. This is an ongoing and gradual process for which there is no shortcut.
This is also where accountability becomes critical, ensuring that change is consistently reviewed, refined, and built into the organisation’s everyday operations and behaviours. Yes, your change programme needs an owner; someone who is empowered to make decisions, guide and tweak the approach and, ultimately, maintain focus until the signs show that real impact is being made.
Without it, even the best intentions drift. It also gives the project a higher chance of success once the consultant, or ‘change champion’, has transitioned out of the project. It’s our core belief at Mind Values Leadership that real success isn’t about delivering a programme, it’s about creating something that lasts long after the initial intervention and we can walk away knowing change is truly embedded.
Get in touch to see how our bespoke training can create change that really lasts, and support leaders to equip their teams to embed change into everyday working practices.
Link to: https://mindvaluesleadership.co.uk/organisational-consultancy/