Rewiring the Brain

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Leadership Leads Change

When a group needs change, it is difficult to hope for or even manage the change individually amongst all members of a group, especially when the change effects them concurrently. For group change a leader is needed. Someone needs to guide the group, establish the future and even make collective decisions for the group.

This is not without responsibility and in not necessarily the person of the group most eager for the change. Leadership in change implies an understand of the group or activity being changed and the stakeholders and their weakness and strength related to the change and its achievement. The leader must see the collective progress of the group and assist those that 'fall behind'. He/She must also make decisions with consideration of the whole, more in a systems thinking perspective, than her own or individual perspectives.

Similar to individual change were you must lead one, leadership is leading the group as one.

Time to Think

Taking time to just think will help in both preparation for change and consideration of needed or opportunistic change. The mind can process quite an extensive amount of parameters, but sometimes it needs the leisure to do this. With all the distractions and assault by information, finding time consistently, if at all, is difficult. Additionally when beginning isolated time for deep thinking, more effort is needed to clear the mind and focus on primary or fundamental thoughts.

Committing to this thinking time can help bring clarity and focus to what is around you in opportunities and threats (negative deterrents to goals or change objectives). As long as you do not sacrifice times of action over times of thinking, thinking will lead to a confidence for action and a better preparedness for when it is time to leap.

Inkling of Change

Getting comfortable with change begins with an instinct of knowing when change is about to happen. This inkling can also be a tool to recognize and take advantage of opportunity. You can gain this insight by being aware of surroundings, events and environment and then testing your change projection. Predict in your mind where and when the change will occur and what it looks like, then compare this with results as they unfold. This re-enforces your instincts.

Look for instability. Scenarios that are not sustainable are ripe for alteration or adjustment. Look for reinforcing loops and the state where they equalize. If it is not the current state, then something has to change.

Futurists look at associations and trends and use them to identify a possible future. Note that this is not a prediction, it is more a projection based on a continuation of events. The considerations of these future state scenarios not only permit an understanding - and comfort - of the change, but an opportunity to identify focus points to effect a change if the anticipated state is not the desired state. This is how change in managed.

Identification of the critical factors driving change establish the critical path items that change transition occurs through. Change consists of action, transition, and balance. Seeing these states progress, takes you out of being managed or forced by the change and adds a capability to effect the change before, or as, it occurs. Think of these instinctual inklings and links to connect to change.