Look Before You Leap: Ten Conditions for Successfully Motivating for Change

In this article, the authors expand "The Six Conditions for Meme Change" by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan (Spiral Dynamics 2006) to the ten factors (conditions, or basic requirements) for translating motivation into actual change, whether for an individual, a community, or an organisation. As stated by the authors: "If you attempt to motivate for change when the ten conditions are not met, then you stand a good chance of wasting your time, or - at worst - making things worse."

The document suggests that there needs to be an alignment of the external life conditions of the person or group or organisation, and the dominant method of coping with those life conditions.

From the document:

"Condition 1: The perception exists that the problem is real - A problem can originate from within the person/group, or from a change in external life conditions. For example: relationship problems; diagnosis of a serious illness; increases in crime; retrenchments in local factories; or drops in sales." There must be awareness of the problem (What is it?), and it must be "owned" or attributed to someone (Who's is it?).

"Condition 2: The person or group is open-minded about the problem - The presence of an open mind is a make-or-break condition: If the person, community or organisation is closed-minded, he/she/it is not likely to change, unless the change agent is extraordinarily skilled in persuasion and reframing, or life conditions change dramatically to force the issue."

"Condition 3: Other important problems are resolved - What other problems exist? Which problem(s) are more important to solve? A person, community or organisation is not likely to change in response to the new problem if an older, more basic, problem is not resolved first....Conversely, it is possible to successfully motivate for change relating to the new problem if this is perceived to potentially solve all or part of older, more basic problems. This is referred to as embedding change..."

"Condition 4: The necessary resources to change exist - Do I/we have the energy and resources to make the change? ...Particular attention needs to be paid to the possibility - real or imagined - that allocating resources to resolve the new problem does not reduce the resources required to resolve other more (factually or perceived) important problems."

"Condition 5: Insight into current situation - ...What exactly has changed in my/our life conditions? Why are my/our existing coping styles not adequate for dealing with this problem? The more accurate the answers to these questions, the more likely any change process will be sustainable, even when difficult....The ability to receive objective or alternative feedback and information that is contrary to what is believed or desired, is a major factor into developing insight into a problem. In emotional intelligence terms, this concerns the gap between the ideal and real self. The presence or absence of an open or closed mind is once again a key factor."

"Condition 6: The barriers to change are identified What or who is preventing change? What or who is making it difficult to change? " - According to the document, it is common to blame external forces, but identifying internal factors that may be barriers, as well as external factors, is crucial to finding solutions. "It is difficult to motivate self-identified victims to improve their life conditions or coping methods, as they expect such changes to emerge from external sources."

"Condition 7: Strategies to overcome barriers exist - How do I/we overcome obstacles to change?" Strategies to overcome barriers include: eliminating, bypassing, neutralising, and reframing the barriers to change.

"Condition 8: The change method matches the problem - What kind of change is needed? How much change do I/we need? For many problems, it is important to ensure that the methods are compatible with the individual’s (or community’s, or organisation’s) identity and core value system, referred to as fine-tuning horizontal change, or to expand such identities and values into greater complexity, referred to as an expand-out horizontal change."

"Condition 9: Vision of the future - What will my/our life look like after the change? Will my/our life be better than before? Before people are willing to change, they need an idea of what they are changing towards."

"Condition 10: Support and safety - Will I/we be safe and okay? Change is not easy: Mistakes get made, there is confusion, and there may be back-lashes from various sources. It is therefore important that the person(s) undergoing change have some form of support and stability during this process."

The article concludes that: "The ten conditions for change illustrate that change is not a random process: There are specific key issues to be considered, and where such issues are problematic, there are usually remedies to facilitate change, for those who are willing to be flexible enough to step out of their preferred methodology....change management is a process of careful and insightful examination of the prevailing life conditions, coping methods, and listening to the people whom we seek to assist."