138 PART II Bridging the Knowing-Doing Gap
the wall). If I were going to try to change a culture so that it was more responsive to the type of change management we are exploring in this book, I’d start by looking at what gets in the way of making a compelling case for change.
Slap-Your-Head Obvious Solution
With any luck, when you read the section “What It Takes to Keep Change Alive,” you saw some of the big things that help keep change alive and real- ized that you could easily make sure those things get done. But this stage of a change, more than any other, lends itself to thinking that we will do better than we actually do. The solutions to keeping things moving ahead are so obvious that it is easy to take them for granted.
Lack of Knowledge
If you have any lack of knowledge in this stage, I imagine that it’s subtle. You may wonder what the signals are that let you know that you are “moving at an appropriate speed” or understand the demands of effective delegation. This is a great place to pay close attention to others in your organization who handle this stage well. They will show you how it’s done in the unique political and cultural environment where you both work. Ask them how they would handle a real-life or hypothetical change project at this stage, or invite their advice on the situation you are cur- rently in.
Lack of Skill
In The Checklist Manifesto,6 Atul Gawande writes that surgeons who use checklists perform better, safer surgeries. Flight crews who follow the pro- scribed checklists don’t have to worry about forgetting some small but important task. I urge you to consider using a checklist as well. Unless you are adept at implementing the skills it takes to keep change alive, consider the lowly checklist. The items covered in this chapter are easy to agree with and pretty easy to overlook.
Competing Beliefs and Context
I’m going out on a limb here, but as a leader, you are probably interested in seeing the projects you lead actually achieve the intended results. However, there probably are competing interests that pull you away from that goal.