Hello all! In last week’s post I kicked off a new series called What does Pickleball have to do with change management? In this series, I’m sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned from playing Pickleball that have direct application to my work as a change management practitioner. This week’s lesson is….

It’s about more than the score

In Pickleball league or tournament play, and sometimes even in recreational play, people can have a win at all costs mentality. In fact, in tournaments higher level players often “sandbag” by signing up at a lower level just so they have a better chance to win.

On the flip side many accomplished players will, when playing someone less experienced, focus less on winning points and more on working on weak parts of their game and/or helping out the newer player. There is also a Pickleball tradition that after a game is over, the players tap paddles at the net in a sign of sportsmanship, no matter what the final score is.

This got me thinking about changes I’ve been involved with, as a receiver of the change and sometimes as a change practitioner working on the change. It can be easy to focus entirely on making the change happen, eliminating resistance, etc and forget there are human beings involved. There is more to a successful change initiative than the software being released and adopted. Making sure that the people involved in the change are valued, supported, and cared for throughout the process is a critical measure of success.

Making sure that the people involved in the change are valued, supported, and cared for throughout the process is a critical measure of success.

A successful software release where human beings aren’t involved throughout the process isn’t really successful. Just like in Pickleball, we can remember that while we have goals we need to achieve, we can do so in a way that makes success about more than just the score.

Closing thoughts

I want to hear from you! What has your experience been focusing soley on outcomes/the score vs. focusing on more than just the score? How has each approach affected the change process and/or change outcomes?

Please post your thoughts and comments below. Let’s help each other become the best change management practitioners and enthusiasts we can be!

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

Mike