Painting the Wall
Finding Easy Wins in the Midst of Organizational Change
Think about your latest home renovation project. It likely took hours of planning, execution, and tweaking to get it just the way you wanted it. Think about the quickest step of the process — the thing that took the least amount of time for the most substantial change. Chances are, it was painting one or more walls.
Why is this so effective? It changes the entire feel of a room without you having to move furniture, redecorate, or do much of anything else. Spend one day painting, and the whole place feels different. So, when you’re implementing change in your organization, the same principle applies. You can find those things that are easy wins — the equivalent of painting the walls in the room.
What’s the low-hanging fruit? What are the things that make your vision move forward substantially, and at the same time are fairly easy to execute? What are those things that are quick to implement and easy to celebrate? These will allow your team or your congregation to see change happening before their eyes. Simple tweaks with big visibility will keep their morale up, and encourage them that change is, indeed, happening.
Maybe this change is in the lobby; maybe it’s on your website; maybe it’s on your program. Is there a way to celebrate something, or start a newsletter that could show up in people’s inbox to share testimonies about what’s happening? How can you make it feel like it’s a brand new place?
What are your easy wins? How can you make them visible to your people?
