How to survive change and make an impact

It is an era of change. Small, naturally agile startups are emerging like mushrooms after a summer’s shower. They are able to innovate quickly by responding to consumer needs. Thus disrupting the the lay of the land and taking market share away from larger companies. Pushing them to transform towards a more responsive system themselves.

"All business leaders today realise that we operate in a more challenging and a more disruptive environment. This environment actually creates a lot of potential and opportunities as well. But in order to capture that value you have to change." (Kris Timmermans, Senior Managing Director, Accenture Strategy)

Most organisations are undergoing change to one degree or another. Therefore, many people will be experiencing it around them. It is natural to feel a certain level of discomfort during that time. But don’t forget that change is also a priceless opportunity to make an impact. Hence we thought it would be useful to provide some tips and coping mechanisms for people who find themselves in a changing environment. So here is how you survive change with the best outcome for you and your company.

Here is the 1st of 5 tips on how to survive organisational change and make an impact:

Overcome your fear of failure. One of the biggest hurdles to embracing change is fear of failure. That's why our first tip is about how to overcome it and turn it to your advantage. Any change can automatically increase fear of failure. Agile ways of working actually encourage failure as a means of learning and getting feedback because the principle itself is based on small iterative experiments constantly adapting in line with consumer feedback. When failing, stop thinking YOU are the failure, instead know that it was the idea/concept/approach that failed. Don't make it personal, stay objective and keep a cool head. This is what emotional agility is all about. You learn through mistakes. Therefore if you fail, it is not about you, it is about your idea. Keep going and put new ideas on the table. Test them as early as possible. At some point you will come up with a winning idea and it will make an impact to the business.

So how to understand if your idea is the winning one? Ask your consumers. It will give you an objective validation and real figures which will be reassuring for you and for your internal clients. Also, by 'outsourcing' opinion to your consumers you are moving the focus away from 'Am I right' to 'Is my idea right'? You are saving the company money by testing at an early stage of the process at the same time demonstrating that you are a proactive and thorough thinking individual. Moreover, the earlier you test the better you understand your TA enabling you to tailor your ideas to their needs further down the line.

Read a case study about a manager who gave an inspiring presentation supported by high scores and enthusiastic quotes to her directors causing her idea to go viral in the company and taken into development.

Check out the actual idea test results and view the report for the new mood reading Jaguar Land Rover tech here: https://app.fastuna.com/report/8zweLBul5m