Questions to ask when faced with change

Change management is popular and there are countless books, talks, blog posts, and what not dedicated to this topic. In this post I'll alert you to questions, that, when considered thoughtfully, will help you lead and manage change more successfully. Some of the questions you find below may seem obvious or strange - just reflect on them and ask others to do so too.

What’s the story of the problem?

Why do we want to solve the problem?

What do we know for sure?

How do we know this?

What are we assuming?

What purpose are our assumptions serving?

What is it that we are leaving un-discussed?

Why are we doing it this way?

What do we not know?

What’s a similar situation?

Who are the stakeholders and what are their needs?

What happens if we do nothing and things remain as they are?

What can be my first step to better deal with what is coming?

Are we often coming to the same kind of conclusions?

Who can I consult to get a completely different perspective?

Which excuses for underperformance make perfect sense to me?

What am I doing to give voice to unstated agendas, whispered concerns?

How can I best mine wisdom from previous experiences here or elsewhere?

Note: Some of these questions stem from Wally Bock's blogpost on decision making on March 17, 2016

Let me add a Jack Welch question, 'What would I do differently if I had just been hired for the job?' and a Charles Duhigg question, 'Is how our organization or team functions truly the best course of action or did it develop simply because that’s the way it’s always been done? (from his book The Power of Habit)