‘Green dots, yellow dots and red dots’ change approach
Published in
3 min readFeb 5, 2014
We learnt about a change approach. Until we find the original source, we’ve written up what we’ve interpreted through the grapevine (particular thanks to Nate Fink):
- For any type of change, there are likely to be green dots, yellow dots, and red dots.
- Green dots are people that are motivated to change, they are energised and keen for the change.
- Yellow dots are people who are not quite there yet, for example because they are not aware of it, but they will not resist the change. They require more work to influence than the green dots, but they’re not completely resistant. Yellow dots are skeptical but open.
- Red dots are people who are resistors, they don’t want the change, for example because they may not get it, or may not be ready for it.
- This approach says that in most change projects, the people trying to make the change happen will spend time upfront during planning, trying to identify all the reasons the red dots might have for resisting the change, and trying to come up with arguments to try and turn them from being red dots to either yellow or green. However, given (i) the time it takes to come up with these reasons and persuade the red dots; and (ii) that red dots likely won’t be persuaded by you because they have a different mental model of the world, and they won’t listen to you anyway because they’ll listen to other red/yellow dots in their networks, then do not spend time trying to convince the red dots.
- It’s tempting to spend all your time with the green dots, but this can be an echo chamber, and it’s low return on investment since the green dots are already bought in.
- It’s better to focus on the yellow dots — the people who can be influenced relatively easily. The red dots will either eventually get influenced by the yellow dots near them (i.e. their trusted peers), or they’ll get left behind and die off. You should spend most of your energy on talking with the yellow dots to hear their concerns, tailor your approach, and get more people on board. One of the ways to do this is to identify and connect the green dots with each other, to help them influence the yellow dots in their networks, who may in turn influence the red dots.
- This isn’t to say there isn’t value in spending some time on a red dot. Imagine there is a vocal red dot who has an active and influential following. If they can be converted into a green dot, that could have a significant amplifying effect on their red dot followers. Rather than a green dot trying to convince a red dot with just their opinion, a green dot could have a bit of success and get some early results/outcomes by working with other green dots, so that the red dot is persuaded by the evidence and results (as opposed to the point of view/belief of a green dot they may not trust).
