It’s a topic we as leader are always wrestling with? How do we break off old habits and get our team to change? As a leader, there are a multitude of tools we can use to do this, but there’s one that may help more than the rest… and will unlock the key to helping us see how to get your team to change.
I was speaking at a conference in Ohio a few weeks back teaching about design principles and how to be more creative. Toward the end of the class, one of the attendees in the room raised her hand and asked a question: “How do I get my volunteers to stop using the same font’s over and over?”
It’s a good question, right? I mean if they’re using a font that’s distracting, tough to read, etc, you may be wanting to break them of their habits. Here was my solution:
Break your current system
What I went on to explain, the reason change isn’t happening is that your environment isn’t requiring change. So by breaking any sort of system or process you have, forces people to stop and re-evaluate what’s most effective, most efficient, or best for everyone at large.
[bctt tweet=”the reason change isn’t happening is that your environment isn’t requiring change.” username=”lukemcelroy”]
For the woman in my class, I specifically suggested that she deletes every bad font out of her computer, or ALL the fonts entirely. I wasn’t advocating for her to lie, and not say why it happened, but to call it a fluke and install only a select few that you have in your possession at the time. Just make sure that those are the solutions you want, and you’re ready to solve the problem.
In the end, the “if it ain’t broke, don’t break it” may actually need to be re-evaluated as “if it ain’t broke, break it” mentality. Change will follow. and I promise that you’ll have unlocked the key on how to get your team to change.
