In my last post, I introduced you to Eryc Eyl (www.eryceyl.com) and his forthcoming book Stop Engaging Employees: Start making work more human. Great news, the book is scheduled for a January 26 release and is now available for pre-order!

In this post, I’m going to dive into some of Eryc’s critique of change management (he also has a lot of positive things to say about the discipline), allowing his words to do the heavy lifting.

In Chapter 4 (Encourage), which is about how in a humancentric workplace, humans fully participate in creating their own communities and contexts, Eryc mentions that managers routinely ask him questions such as “How do we get employees excited about our mission?” or “How do we get employees to be more productive while they’re working from home?” He then goes on to say the following:

• “The idea that we can make our fellow humans do things, an idea at the heart of traditional change management, is antithetical to a humancentric workplace.”
• “While it is possible to change our fellow humans’ behaviors, especially in the short term, that’s merely an exercise in cultivating conformity and compliance. It’s about people doing what they’re told and/or what everyone else is doing.”
• “You can get certain results in your workplace through conformity and compliance, but you can get even better results through emotional connection and commitment, the kind that leads to changes in attitudes and mindsets, as well as behaviors, the kind that leads to human satisfaction, fulfillment, self-actualization, and flourishing.”
• “It’s easy to argue that managers only need to worry about behaviors, but leaders like you already know, even if you’ve only had fleeting glimpses, how much more productive fellow humans are when they’re connected and committed to their work than when they’re simply doing what they’re told.”

The idea that we can make our fellow humans do things, an idea at the heart of traditional change management, is antithetical to a humancentric workplace.

Eryc Eyl

One of my foundational beliefs about the change management discipline, that we should stop doing change management to people and start doing change management with them, is the same as Eryc’s belief about employee engagement. So, it should come as no surprise that Eryc’s comments on change management resonate with me.

What are your thoughts on Eryc’s comments? What resonates with you? What do you disagree with? Please post your thoughts and comments below.

Thank you for reading. Until next time, take care and keep up the good work!

Mike