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7 Ways to Make Big Change Quick andPermanent BY KEVIN DAUM @AWESOMEROAR

Big change can be disruptive yet beneficial and often necessary. Change expert Robert"Jake" Jacobs shares his tips on how to create real and lasting change.

Some leaders thrive on constant change; others abhor it. In either case, the people mostaffected are the employees who have to adapt.

I have always been a huge fan of Robert "Jake" Jacobs's work on the subject of fast and lastingchange. His system, "Real Time Strategic Change," has helped companies big and small tomake real and lasting positive change.

For example, Real Time Strategic Change has been used by:

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AT&T to become competitive after deregulation.

The Home Depot to help the front line become customer friendly.

TJ Maxx to support their growth strategy of rapid expansion into Europe.

Stanley Black & Decker executives to become a real team and break down silos.

Jacobs runs powerful seminars: He once facilitated a three-day 1,000-person meeting on thefloor of the New Orleans Superdome for Mobil's Gulf of Mexico business unit. Imagine 125table groups of 8 people, all focused on generating ideas and commitments to save theirbusiness. Due to Jacob's work they created a $250 million turnaround to the bottom line inonly 18 months.

Jacobs, who runs a free webinar about making change, explains that the principle of "RealTime" is about accelerating results with sustainable change. Shrinking the time betweenplanning and implementation means that you have to begin living your future today while atthe same time planning for it.

This means that Real Time Strategic Change acts as a turbo-charger for work you already haveunderway and with models and tools that you are already using. It supplements what you aredoing and how you are doing it instead of requiring you to starting from scratch, as manychange approaches require. Change is more easily implemented and is more likely tostick when you can work with tools you already have. Make any part of your preferred futurereal today and you've just done good Real Time Strategic Change work.

If you need fast and lasting change to help your team, here are seven tips from Jacobs.

1. Start anywhere, be willing to go everywhere.

Change work is about energy. Find it. Follow it. Leverage it for the greater good. Many changeapproaches require you to move through a series of pre-determined steps. Jacobs says beginwhere people want to do the work. He once ran a problem-solving meeting of 80 people in acompany of 10,000 that had just undergone layoffs. This was hardly a starting point forcorporate transformation. Most consultants would politely decline and look for a morepromising project. But Jacobs readily agreed. The CEO was amazed at how productive 80people were who had just survived traumatic circumstances.

2. Listen to the "troublemakers."

On the surface,energy seems positive or negative. So-called resisters are seen as bringing badjuju to the work. In Jacobs' other book You Don't Have To Do It Alone: How To Involve Others to GetThings Done, he argues that troublemaking is in the eye of the beholder. Contrarians often seemto be throwing up roadblocks to the important work. But these problem people, Jacobs

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maintains, see things others don't. Think of them as protecting you from your blindspots. Instead of shutting down those who aren't getting on board, Jacobs suggests asking,"Could you say more?" You might be surprised what you uncover.

3. Engage people's heads, hands and hearts.

Jacobs sees people as whole beings with complex sets of needs, wants, hopes and fears. Thework is about engaging all of these aspects of a person. Organizations and the people in themhave limitless potential. The key is figuring out how people can work better together toachieve common goals. This is simple to say but much harder to pull off consistently as a wayof doing business. People yearn to be part of something larger than themselves. Createopportunities for people to contribute in meaningful ways and to make positive contributionsto the greater good.

4. Pay attention to both leadership and followership.

Change experts focused largely on leaders in the past. Now, the focus is shifting tofollowership. Change requires individuals to provide leadership for the effort to succeed; Some come from the traditional hierarchy, while others are informal influencers in theorganization. Both types need to be to set up for success by developing the new skills,knowledge and experiences needed to lead in the preferred future.

Followership plays an equally important role. Formal leaders can become the best followersas others in the organization take on leadership roles. Who is leading and who is following issometimes tough to discern. What's important is progress toward your preferred future bywhatever means are necessary--and by whatever leadership and followership can beprovided.

5. Always be results-driven.

Real Time Strategic Change is about getting real work done well, and embedding better waysof doing business in daily activity, all in the name of achieving agreed purpose and results.Often people live in an incremental world. Why they are engaged in a change effort and theneeded deliverables can become fuzzy as work progresses. With Jacobs' Real Time StrategicChange process these needed results remain a "north star," guiding decisions and actionsthroughout the effort.

6. Work on many fronts at once.

Creating fast and lasting change is not a linear process. In a best-case scenario a step 1, step 2,step 3 approach gets you incremental change. Worst case? People think you're following acookbook instead of leading your organization. Don't assume Jacobs is not a fan of structure;he finds it helpful. I love his quote, " Structure gives you something to deviate from." Whenimplementing the Real Time Strategic Change process, you look for any opportunities to

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IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

@AWESOMEROAR

KEVIN DAUM | Columnist

An Inc. 500 entrepreneur with a more than $1 billion sales and marketing track record, KevinDaum is the best-selling author of Video Marketing for Dummies and the executive producerof Amilya! on 77WABC New York. Sign up here and never miss out on Kevin's thoughts andhumor.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

advance down the field. More channels of work mean better odds for success. When workingon many fronts at once, a team's progress, your own learning to lead in changing times, andembedding even just one new way of doing business in your organization are all worthy goals.Go after all of those and more to create fast and lasting change.

7. Bet that people care about winning.

Every win gives you the time money, energy and political capital to achieve your next round ofinvestments. When you begin a change effort people often talk about "low hanging fruit." Earlywins are not always the easiest wins. They're the wins that matter the most that you need toachieve quickly. These deliverables increase the "believability index" for people. What resultswill grab people's attention? Be strategic. Make the changes relevant to your organization.

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