The more I find myself involved in leading change, the clearer something’s becoming:
It’s never about having the right answer, it’s about who’s in the room when the answer's found.
It's why I'm not a fan of long, expensive reports from consultants, telling us what to do.
Even when you do have a good answer, it doesn’t seem to land unless the right people were part of getting there.
The ones who’ll influence how it’s received.
The ones who’ll actually pull it through.
I’ve learned (the hard way, sometimes) that bringing those people in early isn’t just a nice-to-have - it’s the work.
Not just because they make the thinking better and more grounded, but also because they're more invested in it.
It's the process of finding the answer that changes people's minds.
I find my focus shifting to framing the problem, anchoring the lens that brings people in, so that we’re not talking past each other but rather connecting our various points of view.
So lately, I’m trying to worry less about solving it myself, and more about asking:
Who’s going to carry this forward - and are they in the room yet?
When we have the right people with the right framing, the answers tend to take care of themselves.
And more importantly, the change actually moves.