Saying Something and Doing Something Are Not the Same Thing
How many times have there been changes in management in a company you work for? If you have been in the workforce for a few years, chances are high you have experienced at least one or two changes in management. For those who have experienced this, how many times has new leadership in a company you worked for talked about significant changes they would make in the way the company operated? Now looking back, what percentage of those changes ever came into practice?
A research study by John Kotter in 1995 reported that on average only 30 percent of change programs are successfully implemented. Change management came in vogue soon after the study and big changes were expected to occur. However, as a McKinsey & Company study revealed in 2008, that number was still stuck right at 30 percent. Part of the problem is that saying something and actually doing something are not the same thing. Saying something is easy and usually feels good. While doing something can be quite difficult and usually involves a lot of frustration and setbacks.
It’s relatively easy to come up with catchy slogans, but most people fail to put actions behind their lofty words. When this happens, people begin to lose faith in leadership and focus on protecting their interests rather than that of their company or their team’s best interest.
I recently read an article following a loss by one of the many top college football teams that were upset this past weekend, that made me laugh inside. In the article the coach said “this one’s on me” followed by something along the lines of: ‘we will get this fixed.’ In the comment section below the article, several fans were attacking the coach (as fans do when things do not go as they had hoped) for not taking any responsibility. The article’s writer/apologist replied to those fans that they must not have paid attention because he heard the coach say it was ‘on him’ at least five times.
See the irony? If I say I feel badly for something I have done, does that mean I do feel badly? Of course not! Does it make it more likely to be true if I say it more times? Again, of course not! The fact is, the only way to get an idea of whether I truly feel badly or not is to look at my actions and see if they correspond with what we view as remorseful behavior. So when a coach or leader says ‘it’s on me” it’s pretty meaningless, unless he takes an action that shows he is taking responsibility, like refusing his paycheck for that week or stepping down.
I’d love to see how often coaches and leaders say ‘it’s on me’ once their paycheck is tied to their saying it. If they continued to do so, they may experience the benefit of those underneath not losing faith in them and consequently improve their company or team’s performance.
In the words of the great Walt Disney: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
