Organizations Can’t Change If Leaders Can’t Change with Them

With the eruption of technology over the last 25-30 years and the tsunami of new industries, organizational change has become mainstream. From the never ending software updates to the constantly evolving world of social media channels, strategies and tactics (from military to civilian) are constantly being re-evaluated for relevance and benefit. As quick as we begin to understand a new technology and how to utilize it correctly, three more widgets have been created that can do it smarter, faster, cheaper, and with full integration to the cloud and a smart phone app.

The frequency of change and the volume of change can be overwhelming for the savviest of the savvy. As Ron Carruci writes in Organizations Can’t Change If Leaders Can’t Change with Them, “During times of disruptive change, all sorts of feelings are heightened — loss of control, the interruption of power, fear of failure.” So how do we prevent these understandable feelings from manifesting into debilitating oversight and micro-management? Flexibility and adaptability is your answer, during my 10+ years with Booz Allen Hamilton, we called this trait “fungibility.” The recognition of fungibility as a tangible asset, a measurable attribute, is the key to embracing and ultimately leading change.

Fungibility can’t just be a buzz word for positive organizational change to take root. This culture of flexibility and adaptability has to start at the top! The old way of doing business is a quick path to go out of business, and those unwilling to at least begin to understand this rapid rate of change will likely find themselves on the wrong side of this wave. Opportunity is all around us and regardless of where you currently reside with your understanding of these technologies, there is time to grow your tool box without discarding your years of invaluable experience. You are worth your weight in gold, and with the following three steps you can further magnify your value to any organization or business endeavor!

1 – Find a technology mentor
2 – Educate yourself (e.g. podcast, webinar, book, etc.) on a new technology 1 hour per week
3 – Utilize a new technology for business purposes 1 hour per week

Being fungible does not require you to be the expert in a given area, it does however require you to be open to discuss and possibly implement change. Don’t allow fear to restrict your focus to the things that you are comfortable with! The trick to this entire technology things is to get comfortable being uncomfortable, because change is here to stay…

** Shawn is a defense contractor and personal career coach. He is currently partnered with Geo Roberts (http://www.georoberts.com/), author of IMPACT; How to Make a Positive Difference and is open to provide free consultations for members of RallyPoint