In What Reality Do You Live?

What is your reality? And what is the reality of your friends, your colleagues, or your staff?

Reality is what people believe it is, defined by the majority of a society at a given point in time. The earth is flat? An alchemist turns anything into gold? That was the reality for most people over a long period of time. Today, we believe that there is nothing faster than the speed of light and that the universe was created in a big bang. How long, would you bet, will these “realities” remain valid?

Why is this important for you as a business leader? Because reality is not purely fact-based and you cannot change it "with one click". Instead, realities are created in the heads –and the hearts– of people, driven by personal beliefs and emotions.

If you want to change your organization toward a new reality think of this:

1. You have to change people's mindset first.
2. People’s mindsets can only be changed by force or positive emotions, linked to rational self-interest. What is your change strategy?
3. Methods and tools are only effective when people realize that they have to adapt to a new reality. That is why so many process improvement projects, Six-Sigma-efforts and similar initiatives fail.

Last tip: Don't listen to consultants who want to sell you fancy methods and IT as the solution for your organization's transformation. Instead, do your homework first. Read more.

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