When change is often discussed, it’s in relation to individuals. Kurt Lewin, a father of change or sorts always described change as a 3-stage process. That it all started with Unfreezing, Changing and Refreezing. That you would unfreeze, break all the old forms and shapes. And during change, create new forms and shapes. And at refreezing, crystallize those new forms and shapes for sustainability.
Yet, change although more discussed than any topic in organizations, it’s also the hardest to conceptualize especially when it concerns organizations and industries. One industry stands out: The Newspaper Industry in Uganda.
The Newspaper Industry didn’t learn today that the way people consume news had changed. All signs were clear that with the advent of social media technologies, consumer behaviour had been altered. It was a fundamental shift that placed power in the hands of the people. Everyone became a journalist, and the advertisers could now go directly to the marketplace and not through a medium. Social media allowed individuals to build audiences. For the first time, if you signed up on social media, you had an audience. It could have been one of just friends and family, but an audience existed. But the newspapers saw this, yet they continued to operate as though nothing had happened.
The behaviour of newspapers reminds me of scenarios when buildings catch fire. Why is it that people never jump when it’s still convenient? Why do many people just never jump? And when they remember to jump, it’s often too late. What goes on in these people’s minds as they contemplate the jump? Do they always assume another safer and easier way would be created? That the fire would be put out and thus they will have the opportunity not to jump?
It’s simple, in times of fires, everyone needs a certain motivation, something we now call the Jump Motivation. It’s the ability to make the necessary leaps into uncertainty, being certain that what’s being left behind is not desirable and not sustainable. Why would a whole industry fail to change when there was still time to change? Or did the newspapers owners find confidence in the collective, in the ability to keep doing the same thing, in the fact that when the fire entered the rooms, they would have found time to think of an alternative.
Jump Motivation is something that must be practiced in Micro steps. We’ve written about micro-transformations. Organizations must build jump motivation through a series of micro-transformations. Thus, departments and functions must be engineered to have this jump motivation. Why do organizations find it hard to replace entire organizations long after they’ve become dysfunctional or over-taken by technology? The same can be said of business processes that are dysfunctional and produce no value. Most organizations are optimized for conservatism. And even when some radicals come around and create some change, organizations tend to revert to their old states. There’s a tendency to revert to what’s comfortable. And for many of us, what’s comfortable is that which seems predictable, it’s not changing.
Change on the other hand is uncomfortable, it calls upon new skills and knowledge. It requires that you jump into an uncertain future, knowing that the jumping is what conditions the mind to create better alternatives. Those that never jump will never create alternatives. Those that stick to comfort will remember when it’s too late to jump. All organizations must train themselves to take leaps of faith. All organizations need a fair dose of jump motivation.
It’s jump motivation that builds new organizations such as Ortega Group. What happens if you can’t find someone to benchmark in the country or region? Is it a signal that such a business can’t work? Or it’s a signal that this is a journey worthy attempting? Do businesses can usher in the future they wish someone created? Jump motivation is about building bold and agile businesses. Change is about boldness and agility. Yet, change is not a one-off process, change is continual. That’s why organizations that are agile, it’s inbuilt in everything, in the people, in their processes. Organizations often encourage their employees to have a change mindset, same organizations will have business leaders taking months to make a go- or no-go decision. The best jump is one you make yourself, not one you’re forced to make. Newspapers lost the chance to make the jump earlier, now they will be forced into one. Jump or die. But jump to what? The newspapers ask. Just Jump. The people say. In the simplicity of it all, just jumping is what makes all the difference. You weave the nets to hold you from completely falling in the process. You find a world that you didn’t know existed, but you must jump. Those that seek shall find, those that jump, shall survive. The words are truer today more than ever, truer not just for individuals but for organizations.