Hello all! We are in a 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. I took a break last week. Last week’s post was Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. This week’s lesson is….

Protect your partner & set them up for success

When playing doubles, one of your main goals is to set your partner up for success and to protect them. This means when you’re preparing to hit your next shot, you want to consider what’s best for your partner. For example, you want to avoid popping the ball up, which will put your partner at risk of your opponent slamming the ball at them. It’s not just enough to hit the ball back over the net, you need to do so in a way that is most advantageous for your partner to be successful.

As a change management practitioner, this is a good principle to keep in mind. My goal is to set up the people I’m working with for success, not just checking off items on my change management to do list. Also, I need to do my best to protect the people I’m working with. This means I need to advocate for the best solution for everyone involved, not just the most expedient one.

My goal is to set up the people I’m working with for success, not just checking off items on my change management to do list

Closing thoughts

I want to hear from you! What has your experience been protecting your partners and setting them up for success vs. focusing on what you need to get done? How has each approach affected outcomes of change initiatives you’ve worked on?

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!