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Shift Happens

The first level of change is Environment. Think of the environment of your home as a child, as this is where your environment expectations were set on your Map (see Why People Do What They Do to understand how your Map was created). Today your workplace Environment is your physical space and emotional environment. The vibe in your office is part of your Environment. Is it positive, collaborative, got-your-back team oriented? Or is it negative, fearful, everyone-for-themselves silo oriented? Environment changes can be permanent or temporary: you can move to a new office or location, temporarily change rooms or just take a walk.

Environment is the outermost and simplest level of change—it doesn’t complete the story. It alone rarely affects profound change. Reorganizations are Environment changes, which is why they alone rarely, if ever, improve a company’s culture. A new job title and new responsibilities can help someone’s career and position and office location, but it won’t fundamentally change who they are.

The next level is Behavior. Suppose you make a New Year’s resolution to go to the gym. How long does that last? You want to lose five pounds, so you stop eating dessert for a few weeks. That’s a behavior change. A few weeks later that tiramisu or cheesecake looks really good…. and there you go. Behavior change can be woefully transitory. And even if you did stay on your diet, would it change who you are, how you see the world, your ability to interact with it with more choice, power, resources?

Moving inward we come to Capability. Let’s say you want to gain a new Capability. You want to learn French. So you take on the Behavior of going to French classes. Then you decide to go to France, and you change your Environment by going to Paris. As you make changes at deeper levels in the Logical Levels of Change, the outermost levels are impacted.

Environment, Behavior, Capability changes can be mundane. Yet this is where most CEOs spend their time and energy, which is why organizations struggle to cause true and lasting transformative and positive change.

They change outside in, instead of inside out.

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Now we’re getting to the juicy stuff, friends…