“I just can’t get enough people moving in the new direction—the mindset of this place is holding us back.”

Does this sound familiar? The Leading Team wants to implement change, but the mindset of the organization—individually and collectively—seems to resist the change, mire it down, and often kill it.

We at The Clarion Group find that mindset is a common challenge for top teams who are embarking on a new strategic direction. As far as the leadership is concerned, the need for change and the delegated responsibilities for making it happen are clear. Yet it doesn’t happen. The people who have to carry out the change seem unwilling. One disconcerted executive told us, “It’s like trying to run with an anchor around your legs.”

Shifting mindset is often at the heart of moving the business forward. How can leaders work with this challenge…to throw the switch that can transform the same set of goals, obstacles, time frames, and resource limits from an impossible thing to a possible thing? Let’s take a look at this concept called “mindset,” what it is, and what you can do to change it for the better.

What is Mindset?
Mindset reflects the way people—both as individuals and groups—think and react to new and evolving situations. To move a business in a new direction, the desired mindset would be reflected in eagerness to implement new ways and a willingness to move in new, uncharted directions; an entrenched mindset is often locked in to the current mental approach and past experiences.

Here are some characteristics of
mindset as we see it:

Mindset comes from historical context and individual experience. Some of mindset is what people have been taught (“This is how we do things around here.”) and some is what people have learned (“This makes management happy, and that makes them unhappy.”). Past experiences are a platform for thinking and behaving.

Mindset manifests in behaviors exhibited. You don’t see the mindset, but you can easily read it from the actions and reactions of employees, teams, and departments.

Mindset is often rooted and reinforced in the values system of the company. It embodies the corporate “culture,” the combination of values, views, rules, and practices that govern behavior, although they are often unwritten and implied.

Mindset is made of mental models and paradigms. Here are some concrete examples:

• Operational versus strategic. This is perhaps the classic conundrum for management. Change can mean a temporary loss of productivity which rarely sits well with those who have operational mindsets. On the other hand, operational glitches, e.g., the engineers say that the new products can’t be manufactured, never strike strategic thinkers as significant roadblocks. The simple truth is that a mindset leaning too far toward either extreme is harmful.
  
  
• Me versus we. Sometimes individual employee’s personal interests or private fears create a reluctant mindset. For example, one might say, “I’m not good with new technology, and the old way works fine.” Still other employees may feel that they’ve gotten themselves into a routine, comfortable situation and just don’t want to have to work very hard at something new. Conversely, individuals or organizations that lean too far to the “we” often are bogged down in building consensus. Maybe you’ve seen the symptom of too many people at a meeting.
  
  
• “It’s not my job” versus “How can I help?” Significant change always brings with it grey areas and confusion. How-can-I-help employees jump in to sort things out. They figure out ways to make it work. It’s-not-my-job employees turn their backs on these challenges and hope that the change will fail.
  
  
• Risk adverse (“Why?”) versus experimental (“Why not!”). Many employees have a “why change” mindset. They are the status quo people who find comfort in knowing what their job is and how to do it well. These people are always threatened by change. “Why not” types find change stimulating; they are ready before you are.

Mindset takes many forms. The bottom line is that employees and employee teams and departments have concerns, fears, and dreams that may not be entirely in sync with those of the organization.

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