Lesson 2 – Connection
Old habits die hard. We get attached to things like familiar ways of working, job titles, symbols, and even our workspace; try getting people to move desks and see how tough it can be for people to let go.
Even harmful things, like fatty foods or bad relationships, are somehow comforting. ‘Better the devil you know’ we tell ourselves. Change requires us to let go of the past by breaking Connections and dealing with loss. It’s easy to sweep these concerns under the carpet in the hope that people will just get over it. Instead, raw emotions are simply driven underground to fester and eventually undermine change. People familiar with poorly managed mergers will know how people remain loyal to their old organisation years after the merger has supposedly been completed undermining the anticipated benefits of bringing two organisations together.
The Edwards family, in Jamie Oliver’s American Food Revolution, cook everything they eat in their trusty deep fat fryer. It tastes great and it’s killing them. They need to consign it to history. Watch Episode 1 Part 3 (especially 3 minutes 24 seconds onwards) to see what they do – click on the image of the Edwards Family view it.
There are times when we all need to lay the past to rest and there are many things you can do to help break Connections – the 3rd of The 5 Forces of Change. What Jamie does is just one of them.
