88 PART II Bridging the Knowing-Doing Gap

implemented. My career didn’t hang in the balance. There were no missed opportunities that the organization now regrets. I got off easy.

WHAT MOST SUCCESSFUL CHANGES HAVE IN COMMON

One thing sets apart successful changes, new ideas, products, and services from those that don’t achieve the desired results—people believe a change is needed. In an informal study I conducted in 2004, I found that in most successful changes, the people who needed to support the new idea felt a compelling need for the change. They understood why something new was necessary. In those changes that actually made matters “significantly worse,” less than a quarter of the stakeholders saw a need for a change.

Making a Compelling Case for Change is critical to the success of your new initiative. If you fail to make a case, everything else is going to be much harder, and the chance of getting off track rises. The change will probably take longer, cost more, give you headaches, and ultimately fail. Making a case can be that critical.

But making a case is often overlooked. We can be in such a hurry to get moving and get things done that it is easy to forget this important part of the change process.