If we were to have a large sumptuous meal, we would want to take time to digest it. If we rush, what would we expect? Indigestion. The same is true for change.

The higher people are in an organisation, the longer they have to think about the change, allowing them to process and digest the change. The further down the line of command we are, the less time we get to think about the change €“ so those on the shop floor get very little time at all. Unfortunately, those at the top often don't recognise that they have had more time to get used to the new plan, and they expect others to accept it very quickly.

To make change happen successfully with the minimum of stress, and to make it stick, we need to plan well in time to allow people to feel happy with what they need to do and why. This is hard when you are raring to go and will feel like an unnecessary delay, but we will not change in isolation. We need our team to be following us, rather than having to chase them.