Instead of "know, feel, do," try this
Whenever I’m reading, watching, or listening to something about change management, and change communication in particular, the same framework inevitably pops up: Know, Feel, Do. As in:
What do you want people to know, think, or understand?
How do you want people to feel or respond?
What specific actions do you want people to take?
But I’ve always had a problem with this. Why? Because it centers the person leading or communicating the change, rather than the stakeholder.
To me, know, feel, do has an almost coercive vibe, as in This is what I want stakeholders to know, feel, and do and my brilliant plan or my convincing message is how I am going to make them know, feel, and do it. Bwahahahaha.
But you can’t actually make someone know something. You can’t ensure that someone feels a certain way (which is one reason I don't like the early focus on Desire Prosci’s ADKAR model). And you can’t make someone do something. Gasp! This, from the change management lady!?
Yup.
Successful change requires individual behavioral change and organizational systems change, and in order to get people to change, you have to be able to articulate how they must change in order to achieve a desired outcome.
But rather than focusing on what a leader wants others to know, feel, and do in order to reach that desired outcome, I challenge those leading change to consider an alternative framework: What can the leader do to enlighten, empower, and enable stakeholders to move in the direction of that outcome? Let’s hit up Webster’s 1913 for some good definitions.
Enlighten:
To supply with light; to illuminate; as, the sun enlightens the earth.
To make clear to the intellect or conscience; to shed the light of truth and knowledge upon; to furnish with increase of knowledge; to instruct; as, to enlighten the mind or understanding.
Instead of a town crier, shouting ever louder and more frequently about what you want people to know, why not play the role of lamplighter? Supply the illumination, shed the light of truth, shine like the sun.
Empower:
To give authority to; to delegate power to; to commission; to authorize.
To give moral or physical power, faculties, or abilities to.
Rather than attempting to control or even influence how someone else feels, what if leaders gave instead? Give away their authority and their power to others, and observe how it makes stakeholders feel. Unlock the door, tear down the fence, and see what effect that has on feelings.
Enable:
To give strength or ability to; to make firm and strong.
To make able (to do, or to be, something); to confer sufficient power upon; to furnish with means, opportunities, and the like; to render competent for; to empower; to endow.
When stakeholders are enlightened and empowered, what else can the leader do? How can the leader furnish others with means, opportunities, and the like? How can they raise people up, lower barriers, and give others strength? How can leaders hack away the thorny brambles so that their stakeholders can continue down the path?
The enlighten, empower, enable framework is one I talk about a lot, especially when it comes to managers, one of our most important stakeholder groups
I actually talked about this and a lot more on an episode of Marissa Badgley’s podcast, ChatGMB: Wisdom & Insights for Modern Leaders (we dug into all things change management, including the major missteps I see organizations, leaders, and managers make when it comes to enabling and moving through change). Listen on Apple, Spotify, or the ReLOVEution website.
Enlighten, empower, enable is definitely a mindset shift for folks who are used to more of a command, control, convince method of change management, but it's a mindset shift that has to happen, especially if leaders want to develop long-term change capabilities at their orgs.
