Blog

“That’s what I do. It’s what I love to do. It’s what I do best.”

My wife looked at me, happy that I had started my Thursday morning on such a positive note.

She’s used to my exuberance and confirmed my self-assessment: “I make complex things simple that helps others get clear and take smart action.” (By the way, there’s plenty I’m awful at…anyone who’s driven with me can attest to my having zero sense of direction).

Read on to learn about adding another Critical Success Factor to put in place for your change work to work to the list of seven I have described in another article.

I got an email last week from my wife. It was one of those notes that’s been forwarded across cyberspace until it finds its way into your inbox. The story was about some guy who played his violin for 45 minutes in a DC train station at rush hour. 1,097 people passed by while he was playing. Only a half dozen stopped and listened. He collected $32.17 in tips. Scenes like this play out every day in train stations around the world.

But this day was different. So was the guy playing the music.

I work with senior leaders in companies around the world. They lead organizations from very diverse industries. Some work in the private sector, others in the public. I have consulted with brand new CEO’s and those who have been in their position for a decade or more.

They all have four things in common.

1. They are almost always over-scheduled.
   
2. Meetings stack up on top of each other.
   
3. They don’t get home from the office until late in the evening -- that’s if they are even in town.
   
4. Few have time for anything besides golf outside of work -- and even most rounds at the course are dedicated to working on a new deal of some type with their playing partners.

The single greatest complaint I hear from people is that communication in their organization is lousy. I recently did a podcast on what to communicate to employees during the economic downturn. This article is about three good ways how to do that. People in them feel like they’re kept in the dark. Tough issues get glassed over. Even well intentioned efforts fall short of the mark.

Dan and Chip Heath, the brother team behind Made to Stick wrote a recent column in Fast Company on viral marketing. Their focus was on getting the good word out to customers about your products and services. The same advice works for communicating organizational change, too.