A Humanistic Approach To Change

My career has taken me from a focus on Customer Experience Transformation, to a focus on Employee Experience Transformation to (today) a focus on Inner Experience Transformation.

I think of this career evolution as moving further and further up the ‘supply chain’.

More and more, I can clearly see how our inner experiences at work as leaders impacts the experiences employees have, and ultimately the experience our customers have.

This week I ran a workshop for a newly formed project team responsible for delivering a multi-million dollar, highly complex experience transformation project.

I shared my perspective that delivering an experience transformation initiative is like taking small slices through a rainbow layer cake – the layers representing the factors inside and around people at work.

For change to be successful, each layer needs to be understood and harmoniously adjusted.

While some of the layers of the ‘rainbow layer cake’ are obvious. Some are far less obvious.

The visible layers include factors such as ; systems, processes, policies, organisational values, work instructions, EBA’s, performance metrics and behaviours.

The invisible layers of the cake include factors such as ; people strengths, values, beliefs, past traumas, cultural norms (unspoken rules) and the parts of us that can feel fearful and overwhelmed.

Leaders who take a humanistic approach to change are those who have the courage to talk about all the layers in play during times of change – not just the convenient layers.

Sure, these conversations can be uncomfortable, messy and challenging – but this is not a good enough reason not to have them.

Please reach out if you would like to understand how I can support you to facilitate brave and honest conversations about the visible and invisible factors that need to be considered to ensure your next change program is successful, safe and kind.

“Daring leaders say the unsaid, and bring to light the stuff that’s in the shadows.”

Dr Brene Brown