Are you frustrated about change? Many people are. Both in our personal and in our work lives, it can be a challenge. In my last post, I discussed ten reasons why organizational change is not working and in this post, I’ll serve you another seven. This is not meant to discourage you. This is to alert and prepare you so you can improve your change skills. Because it is important for positive change to succeed. Let’s continue and learn how to avoid as many causes of wasted energy as we can.

Do you know that culture is one of the main reasons for the huge failure rate of organizational change? In my first assignment, fresh out of university, I presented a plan with the “best” solution to a particular organization’s problem. I remember the board meeting where the top executives agreed on this plan. Great! But they never implemented it... My hard work ended up in a drawer. It didn’t fit their priorities, their personalities, their culture.

What are the “undiscussables” in your workplace? Is there something that almost everyone knows but no one mentions…? Welcome to the heart of organizational culture! Undiscussables are essential to understanding company culture, let alone change it.

Last year, the New York Times revealed that there was “an elephant in the room” at Harvard business school. The undiscussable was gender equity resulting in females getting lower grades. Also, both female staff and students felt pressure to dress well, ‘look hot’ and not be ‘too assertive.'

Who you are, has become more important since our economies deliver numerous services, and we are knowledge workers in varying projects while our societies ride the waves of global change. It is not just what you do, and how you do it, but WHO you are that makes the difference in all this volatility. Being precedes doing.