Change alchemy: Wriggling not squirming

Often when change is introduced, the response is “why – why do we need to change?”

An essential ingredient of change is discomfort with the present state of affairs. It is part of the leader’s job to generate this discomfort by highlighting information and analyses that will upset the belief that everything is rosy.

But care is needed: discomfort can become disturbance, and rather than create an urgency behind change, resistance is produced instead.

How will you make sure that people wriggle but not squirm?