# Changing What People Do By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-03-20 Organizational change is a fascinating area of study. Strategies have emerged as to how to prepare the organization for change, get them on board, implement it, and measure aspects of its implementation and subsequent performance. All this focus makes sense. However, given the number of organizational change initiatives that fail, one might question whether the common focus is correct. Perhaps an essential and relatively simple element is missing. For all the structural and linguistic changes, if one hasn’t changed what people do, one hasn’t changed a thing. People doing is the core of an organization. If one wants organizational change, one must change what people do. Changing what people do is challenging because people find comfort in routine. Additionally, the basis of their career is tied to what they do, and what they do is influenced by what they know how to do. Real change is about the organization encouraging people to do old things differently or to do new things. Creativity is required to break out of old habits. Change comes from the inside out, not the top down. Unless the organization changes what people do, they haven’t changed a thing that matters. #### Related Items [[Organization]] [[Change]] [[Work]] [[People]] [[Performance]]