“Progress is impossible without change and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything” – George B. Shaw. The more I speak about the Fourth Revolution, the more I consult in the field of organizational change, the more I find this quote incredibly deep and powerful.
Most changes need to start with a mindset change. Many failures are caused by the failure to change one’s mindset. Of course you can change your environment, your processes, your organization. But if you don’t change your mindset, or rather more precisely, your mind perspective, change will not be successful. You will fail, and slowly become sour, frustrated and angry.
Only by changing your mind first, by changing your identity, your view of the world, will you be able to really change your life, and to change the world.
So, how do we change our mind perspective? It requires both openness and deep introspection.
- Openness so as to apprehend the reality of what surrounds us without all the filters that we usually impose to our perception
- Deep introspection to find the right way to change – our own way, the way that excites us deeply and fits with our inner self
It is an intensely personal quest, and it can be made difficult by how our environment might tend to push us back into our previous mind perspective. It requires solitude and mindfulness. Yet going through this exercise is a necessary preliminary. All the rest of the change is just a consequence of the mindset change: see the world differently, you will act differently.
It is amazing how this is applicable both for individuals but also for organizations: organization’s culture and mindset needs first to change for the organization to really change. Change programs that do not consider this as a preliminary will fail.
So, when do you start stopping for while, open your mind and seek your passion?
