Managing changes One day at a Time- Part I

We will be presenting this article in parts

 Leaders trying to transform company culture can learn from an unexpected Source: addiction treatment programmes.by Keith Ferrazzi

 At client's off-site meeting a few years ago, I gave a talk on how companies can bring about a dramatic cultural change. At the end, a man quietly approached and asked, "Are your friend of Bills?" "who's Bill?" I Said. The man explained that Boy Wilson was the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous and that members use the question "Are your friend of Bill's?" to discreetly inquire about whether

acquaintances are in AA. I am not I replied. He said that the methods I'd described to lead Change reminded him of the methods AA uses to help people stop drinking -So much so that he'd wondered if I was a 12-stepper myself. I thought it was an interesting exchange but gave it no further thought at the time.

 Soon afterward a senior executive at another client told me that the process we'd used to Coach his team had inspired him to confront his alcohol abuse- even thought we hadn't,of course,discussed addiction during the course.This made me curious. So over the past several years, my team and I studied a variety of alcohol addiction-treatment programmes. We We examined the methods and success rates of traditional 12-Step programs along with less conventional techniques I from the regimen depicted on TV show the Biggest loser to therapies for troubled youths and training protocols fororca whales. We approached the endeavor with skepticism on the surface, change management and addiction-treatment seem wholly dissimilar.Overtime, however, we saw many parallels between how the two bodies of work leverage human nature to modify behavior. In the process, we discovered a provocative lens and language to help change managers better understand their mission and methods.

Part II to be continued tomorrow....