Embracing Change

Rachel Kobetz
Defining Experience
1 min readJul 12, 2021

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Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

Sharing this quote from Bruce Mau, co-founder of The Massive Change Network. When you’re leading transformation, it’s all too easy to not acknowledge what is already working.

How do you help people embrace change?

Here’s a good rule of thumb: for every one change initiative, create two celebrations of what’s already working. Emphasis on what’s working may seem redundant, but it often reflects a neglected reality — and the effect is to create a “field of safety” that makes change easier to accept.

Before people can embrace innovation, they need to feel safe. Therefore, the best way to foster change is to reinforce stability. In our rush to initiate change, we often ignore what’s already working. We take it for granted. If you want to fix what’s wrong, first celebrate what’s right and expand it where you can. Before building new structures, recognize the ones that are fine as they are. Applaud success and accomplishments. And make this celebration visible: be sure that people see it.”

— from Mau: MC24

Originally posted on kobewan.com, August 14, 2020.

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Rachel Kobetz
Defining Experience

I love shaping product cultures that connect people and make technology more human. Chief Design Officer at PayPal. Prev. Expedia Group, BofA, Amazon, + Samsung