Inception – A change management movie at heart?

If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it. If you have, perhaps you agree that it’s a captivating movie – intellectually and visually. And as change professional and a perpetual student of my craft, it’s a really rewarding journey. And for those who lead change, the movie outlined some of the key tenets that are important to the success of any transformation. Here are a few that caught my attention:

1. Ideas are immeasurably powerful – the power of a compelling idea is inspiring, galvanizing and exponentially more powerful than the most irrefutable data

“What’s the most resilient parasite? An Idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. Which is why I have to steal it.”

2. Positive visioning – focusing on a positive outcome instead of the negative consequences is a much more powerful motivator of change

Cobb: “I think positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time.”

3. Involvement = Commitment – the art of leading change is involving the key stakeholders in crafting and creating the desired end state; and leaders that are able to share the credit for the great visionary ideas have mastered a critical part of the energy the propels change

4. It starts with good architecture – but a plan is just the beginning. As we used to say in the Army, plan the fight but fight the battle. Having a well trained, aligned team that communicates well and is flexible, stalwart and resilient in the throws of dynamic depatures from the original plan may be the leading success factor of successful change.

Now if this fantasy of being able to shape change and decisions becomes a reality, I’ll either be in a completely fascinating line of work or out of a job.