Teaching a Pig to Whistle—Embracing Change

change, communicating change

Except for a small minority of adrenalin junkies, most people face change with a mixture of fear and loathing. Change should be a positive thing, an opportunity for growth, but most of us don’t seek out change; we wait until it is thrust upon us.

If we don’t let go of the edge of the pool, we never learn to swim. If you have ever been party to a corporate merger, you have seen the good, the bad and the ugly reactions of people to change. Sure, the fears can be real—some people will lose their jobs to redundancy. But the real fear is that of the unknown, and a lot of it could be mitigated with a little common sense and a lot of workplace communication. So, how do we conquer our (and our employees’ or co-workers’) fear of the unknown and be willing to dive into something new?

No one likes to get blind-sided. People can embrace change more readily when they know that a chance may occur, why it is happening and how it will affect them. If you don’t communicate this, it will be like trying to teach a pig to whistle: it will frustrate you and annoy the pig.

If people aren’t made part of the opportunity, they will resist it—you are not going to get them to step willingly into the unknown. So, how can you most effectively facilitate change? Provide the tools and information that will help everyone move forward confidently to embrace The Next Big Thing. Both you and the pig will be much happier.

Do you need to communicate changes about your brand? Contact ALLE.