Too much change at a time can be exciting, yet counter-productive
Saturday October 14 2023
Young Black woman relaxes in her office while coworkers make demands. PHOTO | SHUTTERSTOCK
Philip had schooled and worked in the United States and was hired from school to work with one of the biggest banks in the world. He rose quickly through the ranks and was a very respected figure in the US finance corridors. He had a commanding personality, and his opinion was respected in matters to do with his work.
He was nicknamed the transformation high priest because of his ability to turn around ugly situations.
When a new administration took overpower in his home country in Africa, he was given a position of leadership. Everyone was very happy about his appointment because he had a track record of performance from the US and expectation was very high.
When he arrived, he immediately swung into action and brought rapid changes everywhere. People were fired, redeployed and investigated.
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He was on the cover pages of magazines, and everyone was talking about the transformation guru. Eighteen months later, he was fired and went back to the US; a humbled and sad man.
What happened? How could the champion of transformation fail yet he was passionate about making a difference in his motherland. He had the skills, the exposure and the will.
This tale is repeated in so many institutions every day. A new guy comes in believing he is the messiah, and he shakes everything around and for a moment it looks like he is making progress but then suddenly everything comes to a screeching halt. This is largely because many people have not taken time to understand human behavioural patterns.
Too much change at a time can be exciting and counterproductive. People who have been built by the old will definitely resist the new. Author Robert Greene says that everyone understands the need for change in the abstract but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic and will lead to revolt.
Change proponents like Philip would have done well if they first took time to understand why what they wanted to change was established. He should have realised that each terrain has its culture and without understanding the African terrain, bringing a foreign mindset was doomed to fail.
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Understanding the terrain and logic behind previous decisions is the rationale behind what is known as Chesterton’s Fence, which is a principle that says change should not be made until the reasoning behind the current state of affairs is understood.
In essence, a core component of making great decisions is understanding the rationale behind previous decisions.
Each new administration in an attempt to put their own stamp on things, remove all the fences that were built before them. They determine that old decisions are not their priority and decide to go in another direction many times only, to discover the reason behind previous decisions much later.
The great leader doesn’t rush to implement change. He or she first takes time to understand the terrain and the rationale behind the old decisions. If the justification has changed, or if you have a better way to achieve the desired result, then go ahead.
If you do not ask, why this or why that, you are getting dangerously close to the place where people will ask, why you?
Wale Akinyemi is the founder of the Street University. Email: [email protected]