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. Last week’s post was Move in tandem with your partner. This week’s lesson is….

Be OK with saying you don’t know

One of my least favorite parts about playing pickleball is having to make line calls. With everything happening during a point and with the eye issues I have it’s challenging for me to tell for sure if a ball touched any part of the line or not. The rule of thumb that I’ve been taught is that if neither you or your partner are sure if the ball was out, you should call it in. Don’t guess, have the courage to say you don’t know.

This principle applies to change work. During an initiative, you will be asked a lot of questions about what’s happening, when it’s happening, etc. You may not know the answer to certain questions people really want to know the answer to. Even so, for a variety of reasons, you may be tempted to provide a definitive answer. Just like in pickleball, the better approach is to have the courage to say you don’t know. You can follow that up with letting the person know that you will look into their question and provide information as soon as you have it.

Have the courage to say you don’t know.

Closing thoughts

I want to hear from you! How have things gone in your change work when you’ve been transparent about not knowing?

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!