Late last year I took my kids to Thailand.
In amongst the amazing experience I had of experiencing the Thai culture through the innocent eyes of my kids, we also indulged in some fun and craziness.
One of those things was Zorbing.
If you’ve never gone Zorbing, let me explain.
You climb in a giant plastic ball filled with air and water and you are pushed down a hill. Yep, pretty simple concept. Ball….hill…momentum…fun!!
I was speaking with a friend and colleague recently about a successful organisational development and growth program that had lost its momentum due to a change in leadership. It reminded me of my recent Zorbing experience. Because without momentum…like Zorbing…there’s no fun and no outcomes in organisation change.
You are blasting along, rolling down the hill, bouncing about, sometimes in control and sometimes out of control. You are laughing, your heart is pumping, its exhilarating. Happily having a great time with the other people in the ball…
…and then…the Zorbing experience ends as the ball hits a big wall to stop its forward momentum. It actually bounces against this wall and you end up going back up the hill for a moment until you settle at the bottom of the hill and the ball goes no further. So you stop, you get out of the ball, you walk to a truck which takes you and the ball back up the hill to start the adventure all over again.
Start… momentum…. stop … start all over again.
I’m sure that some of your initiatives or projects at work feel this way sometimes.
Its less than gratifying when the work that you’ve done to get you the momentum you need to change a culture or practices in an organisation… just stops. You hit a wall of distraction, or disengagement or worse apathy and the initiative and momentum stops.
I’ve had experiences in my career where I’ve been happily working away on a project or initiative, the organisation is getting great results, the staff are enjoying the experience, people are engaged, the business is getting kudos from external parties, and then something shifts. It might be a change of leadership or a change of priority or a change of HR professional and things stop.
Urg…and then you fight and fight to get the momentum going again but its exhausting and you stop. Loosing momentum is a sure fire way of ceasing any change.
Change is not a quick thing. Be it personal change or organisational change. Its not something that can be popped into a policy and emailed to staff and then … BANG DONE… you have the change.
Leaders and HR Professionals must recognise that to have real change in a business there must be momentum, there must be time and energy and consistency, there must be trust in the outcome and there must be an effort to remove the blocks and walls that will cease the momentum.
Whether it be organisational or personal change….like the Zorb it can be an amazing adventure, fun, enjoyable, thrilling…if not a little wet and scary…with outcomes that thrill, if the benefit of momentum is realised.
Put a big wall in the way and don’t be surprised when your Zorb stops or pops.
Michelle is a success and leadership coach who works with HR professionals and business leaders who want to get real results and live & lead with purpose. You can find out more about Michelle at www.michelletholland.com
#leadership #humanresources #change
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