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Often times in organizations, when you want to change something – launch a new product, offer a new service, design a website, change your leadership model, etc. – it starts with a simple idea. It is generally easy to wrap your head around why the change should occur, so people tend to quickly get on board.

From here, I have seen organizations take it in two directions:

The Simple Path, or

The Complex Path

Which path sounds better to you?

There are too many factors to mention regarding why an organization will go down one path or the other. Sometimes a loud and verbose leader latches onto the idea and chooses the path. Other times the change just takes on a life of its own. Sometimes detail and complexity is necessary for success…and sometimes detail and complexity are added… just because.

Like many things in life, there is generally no “one best way”. With that said, I will almost always fall into the Simple Path camp. Why?

It’s Science

via GIPHY

The NeuroLeadership Institute (NLI) has done a lot of research helping organizations refine, adjust, and create leadership models based on something everyone has – their brain (disclaimer: size doesn’t matter). NLI always comes back to simplicity – if you want to make something work, it needs to be “sticky.” They did some great with with Microsoft. They boiled down their leadership model to three simple two-word phrases that can be easily recalled and applied to any situation. Find out more about that here.

So what’s the takeaway? In everything you do, strive to keep it as simple as possible. Big words make you sound impressive, but smaller words are easier to understand. Trying to solve for every single situation via a tactical plan helps guide people’s actions, but it takes away from their ability to adapt and flex when something doesn’t fit.

Some may think I was crazy for getting into my 104 degree hot tub with the air temperature close to ZERO degrees fahrenheit (is zero even a temperature?). While basking in the heat, breathing in the steam, and letting the bright sunlight warm my face, my mind wandered to frogs, change, and culture. 

Have you heard the story of the frog and the boiling water? If you place a frog into boiling water, it will immediately jump out. However, if you slowly heat the water to boiling, the frog will not jump out and likely perish. 

Think of your company culture, which has likely been created over years, if not decades. The tenured associates have been baking in that culture for so long, they may not notice if it is starting to boil. Without the right tools, those associates may not have the ability to at least say “Hey, it’s getting a bit warm in here, don’t you think?” 

Now, drop a new associate into that culture. If it is already boiling, what will happen? There are plenty of companies with a culture that is more pleasing, so it is doubtful the new associate will stick around yours for long.

What are you doing to “reduce the temperature” of your company’s culture so that it is a magnet for the best and brightest talent? 

Here are some other nuggets about culture and change I took away from my hot tub experience:

Change is hard! As I went from the cold, brisk January air into the steaming hot water, I almost wanted to turn around. I knew the new environment inside the tub was going to be worth it, but the transition through my back yard was rough. When you change/evolve anything, especially a company’s culture, it is going to be hard for some people. There may be roses and rainbows in the new environment, but sometimes that isn’t enough to get people to go willingly. Find out what matters to them and you’ll begin to craft a meaningful shift.

Support is critical, and sometimes you need to lead from the front. When I said I was getting in the hot tub, my wife and children laughed. They said it couldn’t be done. I felt a complete lack of support. But do you know what I did? I went in anyways! I knew that the environment I was heading to was going to be worth it, so I went first. Evolving a culture may feel the same to you. Despite your best efforts to shift your own behavior, to give others feedback when they fall down, and to lift others up when they succeed, not everyone is going to see the future as you see it. They may even laugh at or ridicule you for trying. Sometimes you need to lead from the front and take the first step. The more you do it, the more visible you make it, and the more stories you tell about how great it feels, the more others will follow.

The whirlwind is brutal. After I finally landed in the hot tub, it was sublime. But you know what was distracting me to the point of wanting to go back inside? The wind. It wasn’t a driving sustained wind – it would come and go every few minutes. When it wasn’t blowing the environment was perfect. When it was blowing, it felt like 1,000 needles poking me in the face! As you go about evolving a culture, do everything in your power to minimize the whirlwind and distractions, especially if you are creating it. If not kept in check, it will cause people to turn around. Will everyone shift to behaving like you want right away? No, and that’s ok. Expect some wind, and do what you can to minimize the impact.