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Force Change by Ending What Teams Love

There’s a reason why your team isn’t buying into your new strategy... Sometimes moving forward requires that something else they love needs to end. Unfortunately, this often isn’t clear until it’s too late. Your team might be angry that you’re asking them to scrap their hard work and walk away from something they believed in. And getting buy-in is essential when you’re moving in a new strategic direction. Which is why I often point back to this crazy Steve Jobs story… When Steve returned to Apple in 1997, he faced a massive challenge. He had to avoid bankruptcy while moving Apple in a completely new direction. And that meant getting the Apple developer community to begin building a new operating system (Mac OS X 10) and completely scrapping their years of work on Mac OS 9. But they were resisting. So, he did something dramatic… He gave Mac OS 9 a funeral. A coffin rose up from below the stage. Smoke billowed. The screen changed to stained glass. Eerie music played. Steve walked out carrying a big box labeled Mac OS 9. He placed it inside a coffin and gave a eulogy. This entire display helped get his team to buy into the new direction. Here are two big reasons why it worked: 1. Imagery. Our brains process images much faster (and remember them longer) than abstract concepts. Steve’s earlier pleas hadn’t worked, and he had to proclaim that Mac OS 9 was dead. He even bought a whole coffin for it. Then, he accompanied that imagery with compelling reasons the old project needed to die. This helped his developers both emotionally and logically process his new directive. Words alone would have failed to convince them. So, Steve created a moment that was impossible to ignore. 2. The story honored the past and got the team excited about the future. It’s not enough just to end the old way of doing things. You need to acknowledge your team’s hard work and give them a compelling reason to buy into your new vision. Steve understood this and could sense the friction with his developers about the change. That’s why he said this in his eulogy: “Mac OS 9 was a friend to us all. He worked tirelessly on our behalf, always hosting our applications, never refusing a command, always at our beck and call, except occasionally when he forgot who he was and needed to be restarted. Mac OS 9 came into this world in October of 1998 for a suggested retail price of ninety-nine dollars and was perhaps the best Internet OS of his generation.” This was so effective because it: a. Honored his team’s previous work b. Convinced them to believe in Mac OS X As a leader, recognize when your team needs a definitive ending so they can let go and embrace what’s next. When you sense friction or resistance to the change, don’t just communicate harder. Create a moment that honors their work, creates a definitive ending, and excites them about the future. #StorytellingInBusiness #ChangeManagement #Leadership