“Culture change program”
“Public sector reform”
“Get well program”
We hear these phrases all the time. We might even use them ourselves.
But there’s a problem…
Using language like this, the hearers need to accept that what they were doing yesterday was wrong. Human beings don’t really do that. Instead, we’ll likely stay just the same tomorrow as we are today, in order to prove that we were right yesterday and had no need to change.
Talk about “culture change program” or “public sector reform” or “get well program” and we’re liable to build up resistance to what we hope to achieve. We’re “programming” it.
Best not to put people in the position where they have to accept there’s something wrong before they’ll do something right.
Much better just to talk about the specifics of what you want, without reference to what you don’t want.
That’s if you want to avoid resistance anyway.
It’s all about the egos.