It’s happening all around us, and it’s happening faster than ever. Organizations must keep up, but change often feels uncomfortable. It creates uncertainty, and yes, it can be scary — because you don’t yet know what the new situation will look like.
During my presentations on change, I like to embrace that discomfort. How? By singing together with the audience (in harmony!) 🎤😳
For some, singing surrounded by colleagues is way outside their comfort zone. Horrifying, even! But eventually (almost) everyone starts to enjoy it. I play the piano with full energy, and in no time, it actually sounds amazing. And you know what? Singing together immediately creates connection.
Because what I’ve always noticed is that there are three types of people in such a process:
👉 1. The enthusiastic pioneers. This group thinks: “Finally! Singing together, we should have done this ages ago!” (This is usually a small group 😉)
👉 2. The hesitant participants. This group starts off with: “Oh no, please not singing!” But soon, they realize it’s actually fun. It sounds good, and they start singing a little louder and more enthusiastically.
👉 3. The ultimate skeptics. This group starts with: “Singing together? Terrible idea!” And even after it’s done, they still think: “No, that was really a bad idea!” 😅
And here’s the thing:
You see the exact same pattern in workplace transformations:
✅ 1. The pioneers think: “Finally! We should have done this five years ago!”
✅ 2. The hesitant ones wonder: “Change… what does this mean for me?” But over time, they become more enthusiastic.
✅ 3. The skeptics say: “This is a bad idea!” And once everything has changed, they still say: “No, this was really a bad idea!”
And that’s okay! That last group is just as important. They often ask the critical questions that are needed. Maybe they’re the dissonants in the team. But you know what? Dissonants make harmonies more interesting and richer — in both music and in your organization.
Photo: Nick Steinbuch