Managing change requires more than empty rhetoric
Without substantive action taken to alter behavior, simply talking about change is pointless. In fact, for organisations it may actually be counterproductive. The disparity between rhetoric and reality tends to be demotivating. In other words, hot air gets stale quick.
That’s not to suggest change is easy. It’s not. It’s hard. That said, I’m of the mind that that gap between talk and action should be effectively filled with education. Learning new concepts and skills is the surest way to alter our behaviors, our minds, our beliefs, and our attitudes.
When it comes to learning to change in the publishing industry, the Yale Publishing Course (YPC) is doing some of the most pertinent and in-depth education in the space. In July, I attended the course for the second year in a row.
As one intrigued by change, especially the failure to change on the part of large corporations — whose main function is self-preservation — I gravitated to the sessions addressing organizational change instructed by members of the Yale School of Management. These sessions were a good foundation for some of the industry faculty, which included the likes of Michael Clinton, CMO of Hearst, and Kim Kelleher, CRO and publisher for Wired, who shared how they’re changing the products they produce and the work they do.
