Experience teaches you to take a step back, to take a breath, to understand that change success is a transitory feeling…

Season 4, Episode 1 — Click here to download the transcript

One would naturally assume that when organizational change appears to be succeeding that its proponents, the change agents of the organization, would feel good about themselves and the organization. The inverse is also true – one would expect change failure to result in disappointment, perhaps even frustration. But then again, are these the reactions to change success or failure that change agents should experience? In my experience, sometimes no reaction is the best reaction.

At one level, this is clearly counterintuitive. The change management literature all say that one should celebrate success openly, and make a really big deal out of those early short-term “wins”! One must built emotional support and attachment, all the books say. However, when one considers the grander scheme of things, how often do we stage those short-term wins? How often do we create false expectations, and do other members not see right through the facade? Using a recent experience in a workshop hosted by a business school, I examine these assumptions that success should be celebrated. I also look at failure and how an organization’s reactions to failure say much about its climate.