Yesterday I gave a presentation for a multinational company in Madrid and we talked a lot about change and adaptable organizations. I am convinced that you can’t build an adaptable organization without adaptable people.

But unfortunately, in many organizations deep change is only crisis-driven. People are pushed to change by circumstances outside of their control. What a pity!

But on the other hand, there are organizations where people really embrace change because they are excited by an opportunity to do something significant, inspiring, or bold. So if you want people to change, you have to give them something worth changing for.

That sounds simple but let’s face it: In most companies, there are no significant, inspiring, or bold ambitions. There is no purpose that draws people out of their comfort zone. And in the absence of purpose, the only thing that will disrupt the status quo is pain.