How open are you for change really?

One of the key points on understanding how change management works is to grasp the fact that in order for someone to change they have to be able visualize what the change might be like.  Because new behaviors threaten the status quo (something that no one over thirty finds easy) I have decided this week to offer my readers a small challenge… How open are you for change?
It is a fact that many of us that are getting used to eating ‘instant meals’ on a fairly regular basis.  What is also a fact is that those of us that eat them are beginning to resent the fifteen minutes it takes to cook, eat, wash and tidy up after the meal.  This may be down to the fact that the level of enjoyment does not match the effort we have to invest.  But if we are prepared to accept this lack of pleasure in eating our meals, then why not take it a stage further?
Most of us get stuck in traffic on the way to (or from) work, so why don’t we simply eat our meat and two vegetables in the car? (those of you open to change are beginning to visualize it now).
The principle is easy, ‘Dinner in a Bottle’.  This is a full flavored meal that you simply drink.  It has all the ingredients, minerals, aroma and flavor of a real meal but without all the hassle.
   
There are a wide variety of flavors on offer from Beef Stroganoff (pictured here) to Peking Duck, English Breakfast and even Pizza Prosciutto.
However, the second rule of change management (as referred to by Leandro Herrero, in his book ‘Viral Change’) is the ‘Tipping point’.  Basically the tipping point is the moment in time when the scales of the norm begin to tip in the new direction.  This is when more and more people become followers, based upon visualizing others behaving in a different way.  So in our case this week, it means when we see teenagers drinking ‘Meat Water’ (that’s the generic term for the new drinks) at bus stops and fellow executives in BMW’s with a bottle or two in their drink holders.
If you are like most people over thirty then you will probably wait to see one of your peers try it first, after having said to many people what an outrage it is and statements like “what is the world coming to?” 
However, if you immediately said ‘wow great idea, must try it’ then you are extremely open for change. Have I convinced you? Are you going to try Meat Water, or are you not yet ready?

Have a good week 

Comments

[Eric Bartholomeus]

Interesting point of view - I understand now what is meant by "change" in "your world". It is the "early adaptor" idea being ready for trying out a new behaviour, concurring the inner forces witholding us - the critical parent instructions. However, I prefer to look at a "change pattern" as very closley related to :
1 Positive Outlook: the belief that the glass is half filled vs half empty
2 Self responsibility or accountability: who is to blame.
In training people, we see that over 90% of the trainees have never learned to master the most important component in this respect: learn to fail - in order to become successfull. Once people realize that failing should be embraced instead of avoided, they are ready to leave their own prison, and become open for change. Generally we have learned form early childhood that failure attacks our identity (self worth) while in fact we only fail in one of our roles - as a parent, football player, student, co-worker etc. When people are able to see this difference, they start to accept risks - and change.

[Philippe Wacker]

If your point is that we often need to see change "at work" in front of our eyes to embrace it, I cannot but agree. For example, I recently started using Google's cloud computing applications after a friend showed me their benefit for a scattered team of co-workers. Still, I am not a fanatic of change for the sake of change. Often change is counter-productive, e.g. the ludicrous idea of replacing a proper meal with an "instant meal" and in due course - why not indeed? - "dinner in a bottle". The only form of dinner in a bottle I pay tribute to is one that is labeled Romanée-Conti or Calon-Ségur. Change is part of life. We need to live with it. On the other hand, we do not need to speed it up or feel compelled to be "early adopters", just for the sake of feeling busy or appearing trendy. I guess, fundamentally, my point - as usual - is: checks and balances is what matters.