Understand How to Lead Sustainable Change
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Understand the importance of managing change in an era of rapid and constant evolution.
- Recognize how a comprehensive approach influences behavior by addressing personal, social, and structural factors.
- Acknowledge the opportunities and challenges posed by emerging technologies, including AI, in driving change.
Change Is Tricky
Let’s face it—change is hard! And today’s rapid pace of technological advancement makes it even more complex. Whether it’s adopting new tools, redefining processes, or shifting mindsets, changing the way people work and behave is a daunting task. That’s why many digital transformation efforts fail, technology rollouts stall, and change projects don’t achieve their desired results. And to make it even trickier, most of us don’t have a comprehensive model for managing change in our organizations.
As a result, we look for quick solutions that never seem to work. We invest in training and send out cleverly worded communications encouraging people to change. When that doesn’t work, we have leadership send out a sternly-worded email. When that doesn’t work, we scramble to find the next foolproof strategy—which turns out isn’t foolproof at all! It’s not that these strategies aren’t helpful—they are! It’s that they’re incomplete. You discover why shortly.
In this badge, you consider the various forces that influence human behavior to create change. You learn to see the invisible obstacles that keep people locked in old ways of working, and identify concrete actions to nudge new mindsets and behaviors. You will also explore how emerging tools, like AI, can be your secret weapon. AI can spot patterns, predict hurdles, and even tell you what your team might be feeling about the changes coming their way. Imagine having a digital crystal ball to help you adjust your strategy in real time. Cool, right?
Why People Do What They Do
Behavior is shaped by many influences, including individual factors like a person’s beliefs and abilities; social factors like peer pressure and leadership direction; and structural factors like policies and incentives. These factors can be captured by the LEVERS model, which stands for Leadership, Ecosystem, Values, Enablement, Rewards, and Structure. In the next unit, we look at how to use this model to foster change, including the role of AI in this process.
