Irrational Change

Irrational Change The home of Irrational Change, a different approach to managing change in your organisation

18/09/2026

Feels like a runaway train?

Recognise the feeling, when you don’t have the time or energy to pause, and you are quickly sucked into the drama.

The most valuable thing you can do is pause and ask questions. Questions that explore, assumptions are dangerous.

The train won’t want to stop, so (like the horse), run with it until you can change its direction. Show that you are keen on the tangible outcome.

Recognise the drama for what it is. Look beyond it to what is really needed right now.

Projects can be hard to mobilise so create drama to give a sense of importance and attention.

As a change agent that drama should be measured; do your target audience need to see or know?

Small steps and no surprises are far more effective in sustaining the change than Big Bang, drama led go lives which shock the system.

If we want to be a valuable member of the tribe, it is tough to duck the drama. Use a professional detachment to see it for what it is.

17/09/2026

If you reward the rescuers over those who get it right first time, what message are you sending?

Pause and take a moment. Think about this one.

Who do you celebrate, who do you put on a pedestal? The team member who somehow makes the impossible possible, or the team member who gets it right first time, every time, diligently without fuss.

All too often we get sucked into the drama of solving problems, and we celebrate our success. Our brains get great doses of dopamine and serotonin, we feel good.

Remove the drama and get things right first time.

If you reward rescuers, they will find fires to fight, they won’t move the paper away from the candle to stop the fire in the first place.

Celebrate those that quietly and continuously improve what you are doing.

Ask questions, raise awareness of the impact. Simple but effective.

16/09/2026

To dig deeper, to understand, ask exploring questions.

These are the most powerful questions to have in your back pocket, they explore another person’s views, beliefs or judgements.

To persuade or influence someone you need to understand their current position.

It is dangerous to assume, you need to ask, and dig deeper, one layer is never enough.

Questions like ‘tell me more’, ‘I am interested in what you think’,

To avoid the risk of these feeling like an interrogation, raising their defensive wall, ask with an open mind and an open heart.

It is as much about how you say it as what you say.

If you have a habit of leaping in and filling space, have a favourite couple of questions ready to help you break the habit. ‘And what else, tell me more’.

15/09/2026

Be consistent, be predictable, create safety to create agility.

Uncertainty paralyses. It isn’t the sexiest leadership advice you have been given, but it will transform your team dynamics, creating empowerment and agility.

Your team is watching you 24/7, your every move. They are trying to work out what is important to you, and their tribe, so that they can make choices of where to concentrate their effort.

If you are inconsistent, scatter gun, with too many priorities, and hard to read, your team will paralyse instead.

Our role as leaders is to create the environment for our teams to thrive and do their best work. To do that, be consistent, be predictable.

Being consistent is about being predictable in what you care for, the behaviour you will tolerate, your reaction, not about constraining with rules.

It creates a foundation where your team feels safe, and able to grow and become themselves. Without worrying about what you might think or do.

Give your team the wings they need, create a safe environment for them. Help them feel in control by being predictable.

14/09/2026

There is no 'I' in team.

Watch out for leaders who talk about 'I'. - We are a team, I am an island

Think carefully about the language you use. Talking about your needs, using ‘I’ as a leader can feel like you and them.

Create ownership by talking about ‘our’ project rather than ‘my’ or ‘the’ project.

13/09/2026

Take time to recharge, your brain and body will thank you for it.

It is hard to stop sometimes. It feels like there is always something that ‘should’ or ‘could’ be done.

Your rest and renewal are some of those things.

Take time to recharge. Whether that is a walk, curling up with a good book, phoning a friend. Your mind and body needs it.

If it is easier plan for it, like any other significant event.

No ‘shoulds’. Invest in you!

12/09/2026

Humans are like onions, we have many layers, dig deep to get to insights.

Asking questions is a very powerful tactic, if you practice digging deeper.

As humans, we are great at responding to the first question is a way that makes it easy for you and often does not tell you much.

To really understand another person’s opinion or belief you have to dig deeper.

Be interested, not interesting.

Keep digging, and you will gain an insight that you would otherwise not have.

A technique that helps you understand ‘why’ someone has a different opinion and gives you a better chance to find common ground or use that insight to influence or persuade.

Best of all, feeling listened to is part of the feeling that inspirational leaders leave people with.

It is all in the ‘how’ you ask. Avoid judgement or sarcasm, however much you feel it. Ask with an open heart and an open mind.

If your intent is off, the other person will feel it. If you fire questions with rapid fire, they will feel that they are being interrogated.

Get the balance right and go digging, get good at asking. It will really help your practice as a change agent and leader.

11/09/2026

Make sure that your change has strong foundations.

Often the focus is on the new product; the fancy new system, process or organisation design.

There is a belief that a new structure, system or process will ‘fix’ the underlying problem.

→ If you don’t have process compliance now, a new process won’t fix it.
→ If you do not have collaboration, a new org design won’t fix it.
→ If you do not have data rigour, a new platform won’t fix it.

Take a moment, dig deep and look at your root causes.

In most (all?) cases these could be fixed without the drama of a new design, process or system.

→ Most of the time the problem can be linked to the willingness of the teams involved.
→ Willingness is linked to motivation and our strongest driver of motivation is our boss.

If our bosses cared for the data, we would to. They don’t, and a new system won’t change that.

10/09/2026

To find the space to do things differently, what are you going to say No to?

One of the powerful provocations we use.

As humans, we hate to disappoint, and we take on more and more.

If you are feeling overwhelmed. Stop for a moment and work out what isn’t valued and stop it.

I learned this one early in my career, I was a lowly technical operator for a year, just 19 and in my first job. I loaded computer tapes, wrote reports that people could run and managed the printouts.

Each month I would carry a printout that was half a box of paper to the accounting team, part of the regular monthly reports.

I noticed that each month they put it in a hanging file and that was it.

So I asked what they used the report for.

They looked at me oddly. There had been some reconciliation errors early in the life of the accounting system so they had this report printed each month.

No, there had not been any errors for as long as they could remember. They just file the report without looking at it.

Yes, I suppose we ‘could’ stop running it (breathes sigh of relief).

Habits become ingrained. What can you say no to.

09/09/2026

A small shift in language creates a significant shift in ownership.

Like many of our insights, this was learned the hard way.

If you have been in a meeting and said ‘we need to’, meaning we, as the group. Then as you leave the meeting you realise that everyone in the room expects you to do the task … this tip is for you.

Shift the language to say You, or use a name instead. Small but effective.

If you are finding that others are not showing ownership to a thing; a project, a set of values or a team.

Use OUR team or YOU team, rather than THE team. Shifting to ownership language brings in a sense of endowment.

This is a great way to move stakeholders from passive to active.

Small change make big differences.

Try it!

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