I recently did a workshop for a group of System Dynamics practitioners who do a mighty job of figuring out the elements involved in large scale problem-solving to help clients make informed change decisions. But too often, the clients fail to implement their findings.

This is a problem in most industries: well-meaning and highly skilled professionals listen for, and collect, the What and Why of a problem and assume the client will know what to do with it. But they don’t.

The assumption here is that the information, the What and the Why, should drive implementation. But What/Why and How are wholly different activities that require wholly different skills.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WHAT, WHY, AND HOW

What and Why are different from How:

• What/Why are information focused; How is implementation focused.
• What/Why are content based; How is systems based.
• What/Why resides in the conscious mind; How gets generated from the unconscious brain.
• What/Why captures information; How processes and manages risk.
• What/Why is tactical; How is strategic.
• What/Why requires information gathering and research; How requires buy-in and an understanding of the risk of change.

We assume that having good information should cause behavior change. But behaviors are merely expressions – outputs – of the underlying system that generated them and will not change permanently unless the system itself changes.

Trying to change a behavior by merely trying to change a behavior by providing good, relevant information will only cause resistance and incurs a very high fail rate.

Here’s why What and Why are ineffective at generating change:

Information vs Implementation: Information, in and of itself, does not cause anyone to change their mind or adopt something new regardless of its accuracy or efficacy. It’s a little understood fact that we rarely hear or interpret new information accurately.

Due to the way brains ‘listen’ (Not very well. Mechanical, electricochemical, and involves distortions and deletions. See my book WHAT?) all incoming content is translated by the Listener’s existing neural circuits, ensuring that what is heard is some rendition of what they already know. In fact, there’s a 65-90% chance that Listeners will misunderstand the incoming information. Not great odds when providing information and expecting clients to implement with it.

Sample

Content vs Systems: I define a system as a group of elements that agree to the same rules, and change is systemic. When people attempt to use content as the means to justify modification before the system agrees, it will be resisted. You cannot change one element of a system without it self-destructing, regardless how compelling the information.

To implement, to cause change and make different decisions to acquire new/different behaviors, it’s compulsory to change the beliefs, rules and norms of the originating system. Like the computer, it must be reprogrammed.

Conscious vs Unconscious: Our conscious choices arise from the unconscious systems that define our lives and prompt our behaviors. Permanent change must be initiated in the originating unconscious systems that caused the problem to be resolved. To accomplish this is the How. What and Why provides information to the conscious.

Information vs Risk: information consists of facts which may inspire change once the system is prepared and set up with accompanying beliefs, norms, and rules to integrate it. But when used to inspire core change it represents a risk to the system and has a good chance of being ignored, rejected, or resisted.

Tactical vs Strategic: Implementation requires a strategy: how to congruently change the underlying system that prompted the current problem to end up with permanent change and follow-on without resistance. This requires getting to the unconscious, trialing new choices, getting buy-in, understanding risk, and assigning tasks with follow up.

When we try to use standard skills to implement, it’s hard to lead clients to their unconscious. Sadly, well-meaning practitioners offer tactical support (the What and Why) that isn’t helpful when seeking fundamental change.

Information gathering vs Buy-in and Risk Management: What and Why are involved with research, information gathering, content. Implementation requires systemic change. Professionals seeking to enable implementation or change must employ a different skill set: listening without bias; posing questions that lead to unconscious origination points; enabling clients to assemble the stakeholders and understand their risk.

The biggest hurdle for most practiioners is to trust that Others have their own answers. Too often professionals assume THEY have the ‘right’ answer because their information is ‘good’ and necessary. But outsiders can never understand the set up of the Other’s culture or system. It’s unconscious even to them…but we can facilitate them in their own discovery so they can implement using their own norms and rules that conform to their systems.

HOW-TO

To implement small- or large-scale change, several elements must be involved:

• Professionals as Servant Leaders must enter understanding their job to facilitate Others to discover their own systems, their own answers, their own implementation strategies. Most leaders and practitioners understand this; they just don’t have the skills (the How) to implement it.

Sample

• (Representatives of) the people and policies that underlie the present state must be assembled and become part of the change process from the beginning. They are a vital part of the underlying system.
• It’s necessary to acquire buy in from the elements that operate in the current system and will be part of the new solution. Without this, the What and Why will be suspect, interpreted by the existing assumptions that have generated the existing problem and most likely ignored or resisted.
• For new outputs/behaviors to be triggered that will align with the new needs, it’s vital that the system with the problem understand the core beliefs that define their originating system.
• The risk of change must be understood by all and strategies put in place to mitigate any possible fallout before implementation will be considered without resistance.

How requires different skills: ways to pose unbiased questions; ways to listen without bias; knowing the 13 steps all change takes. But first it’s necessary for practitioners, sellers, healthcare professionals, and coaches truly take on board the belief that Others – the client, the patient, the buyer – have their own answers.

Right now, the assumption is that the influencer is the one who has the solutions (the What and Why) and it’s their job to tell clients how to implement. But without How skills, clients stumble. Professionals need a different skill set to help them.

I’ve spent 50 years designing models to facilitate congruent change and implementation. If you are interested in learning how to help clients implement, or help clients and prospects make decisions efficiently, please contact me. And if you’re interested in being part of an Implementation consulting group I’m forming, let me know. sharondrew@sharondrewmorgen.com

_____________________    

Sharon-Drew Morgen is a breakthrough innovator and original thinker, having developed new paradigms in sales (inventor Buying Facilitation®, listening/communication (What? Did you really say what I think I heard?), change management (The How of Change™), coaching, and leadership. She is the author of several books, including her new book HOW? Generating new neural circuits for learning, behavior change and decision making, the NYTimes Business Bestseller Selling with Integrity and Dirty Little Secrets: why buyers can’t buy and sellers can’t sell). Sharon-Drew coaches and consults with companies seeking out of the box remedies for congruent, servant-leader-based change in leadership, healthcare, and sales. Her award-winning blog carries original articles with new thinking, weekly. www.sharon-drew.com She can be reached at sharondrew@sharondrewmorgen.com.Implementation is a How: the Why and What of Sales, System Dynamics, OD, and healthcare don’t help clients execute, by Sharon-Drew Morgen