I’ve always loved the early bird. I’m action oriented…people call me Action Al and Hyperactive. That should be a sign. And having worked around dot-coms and the internet, I learned that the first mover always wins. Plus, of course, the early bird gets the worm. So all hail the early bird!

Alas, when leading change, we would be smart to put the early bird aside and go with the lowly duck.

****

When studying change and leading it myself, I came to understand a couple of basic patterns.

Most organizations saw a threat or opportunity against their strategy and realized they needed to change, so leaders got into a room and came up with the change. They announced it and told everyone how important it was. Then they set things in motion.

Their people smiled and nodded, but they weren’t bought in. It wasn’t their idea after all. At the first snag, there was finger pointing (mostly finger pointing up), and the air went out of the idea, even if leadership didn’t learn this for a while. Months were wasted, management lost its credibility with a naïve change.

A few organizations (the ones that succeeded) focused on alignment before execution. They knew they needed to change the organization, but they didn’t decide the change. They were more likely to ask their people for ideas. Sure, there were resisters, but the dialed-in employees offered better, workable, non-naïve ideas. And these were their people’s ideas.

So it took longer to execute at these companies, and leaders didn’t get everything they wanted, but when the organization hit the inevitable snag after launching, it was everyone’s snag, and people called it out and worked together to find an answer. No months wasted on failed change. Alignment. Success. And now this was a change-adept organization.

***

Why then should we choose the duck? Well, before ducks can take flight, they have to learn how to paddle in the same direction, walk in the same direction. We can’t have our people going in in every direction and try to lead them through a change. We need alignment before action.

So, let’s save the early bird for when we retire…low prices at the diner…awesome. When leading change, let’s do the duck!

I look forward to being in touch. Let me know what you think.

Al Comeaux