Making Change

Strategies to Take On the Status Quo

In my experience, there are two truths to transportation and mobility:

(1) Most people are not happy with how they get around.

(2) Most people aren’t supportive of change that would impact how they get around.

How can both (1) and (2) be true? Well, the phrase “change is hard” has a lot of basis in fact.

The best example of this was a time I was working with two neighborhoods that both were looking to reduce cut-through traffic and speeding in their neighborhood. One neighborhood had a one-way street and it was proposed that it be changed to a two-way street. The other neighborhood had a two-way street and it was proposed that it be changed to a one-way street. Both neighborhoods hated the proposed changes. Why? Because change is hard and, particularly with changes in street design, the risk of what could happen outweighs the negatives of the current situation.

And this is just a microcosm of how the fear and risk of change keeps us at the status quo with respect to how people and goods move. So changes that can have demonstrable benefits with respect to safety, climate, economic development and quality of life are held back because the status quo is simply easier.

This is far from an ideal situation for our society.

Fortunately, we have lots of folks out there, both in the private and public sector, that aren’t willing to accept that the status quo is good enough and are willing to take on the fight for change, whether it’s building a new bike lane to shipping all sort of new items on the Great Lakes, because it’s the right thing to do.

So what does it take to make bottoms-up change (change is much easier to accomplish when a principal says “DO IT”)?

I think it comes down to five critical ingredients….

(1) Have a great idea. I know this seems basic, but change requires a lot of time and effort, not to mention political capital, so there needs to be a real reason for this investment.

(2) Build a compelling case for your idea. You can’t pitch an idea and close with “WHY AREN’T YOU ALL EXCITED FOR MY GREATNESS?!?!” You need build the case for why your idea solves a problem and get people fired up on their own. Typically focusing on “what problem of ours does this solve” and “what problem of yours could this also solve” is a great start.

(3) Build confidence of execution. Decision makers get nervous when they see an attractive idea that’s attached to a team that doesn’t have a history of executing. However, these same folks have a much bigger appetite for new ideas from changemakers that have previously succeeded in implementing new ideas.

(4) Build the case against your idea. Why are people going to tell you you’re an idiot? Why is a decision maker going to say no? Getting in front of these questions and being as prepared as possible for negative feedback is necessary for the hard conversations that any type of change requires.

(5) Build partnerships and coalition of the willing. This can range from a large group of people to show numbers to a few key influencers that have the ear of the person you need to say yes. But it’s much easier to take this fight on with partners than it is alone.

Then just execute, rinse and repeat.

I started my career as a traffic engineer who didn’t ask questions about why things the way they were, until I did. And since then, I’ve been successful in bringing change to everywhere I’ve worked using the strategy above.