Yesterday, I took my son to see the new Al Gore movie, "An Inconvenient Truth". The trip was inspired by my son's interest in documentaries. He'd just seen Thomas Friedman's special on the Discovery Channel about alternate energy sources and it spurred his interest.

As I watched the movie, I couldn't help but draw parallels in Al Gore's struggle to get his message out about global warming, with managers' efforts to help facilitate change within their organizations.

Certainly one could easily argue that the potential destruction of the planet outweighs whatever challenges we currently face within our industry, but there are parallels. Who hasn't faced opposition to an idea or strategy where;

1. People question whether a problem exists at all.
2. People challenge the severity of the problem or the consequences of inaction.
3. People are actually motivated to ignore the problem, either through their beliefs or by how they're compensated.

Each of us struggles to overcome embedded beliefs, conflicting messages and a natural resistance to change. One quote from the movie that especially resonated with me was:

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." Upton Sinclair

How many of us have faced this challenge in our professional lives? Have you ever tried to implement a system, process or strategy in an environment where your co-workers were actually motivated by their compensation plans, to undermine your efforts?

My takeaways from the movie were:
1. Encourage a fact based discussion.
2. Present your arguments as objectively as possible.
3. Take your time. Sustained, meaningful change cannot be affected with a sound bite.
4. Stay the course. Stay on message. It will take many conversations with all constituencies before minds can be changed.
5. Keep your expectations within check. Be persistent, but be realistic.

Only time will tell if these tactics will work for Al Gore's cause.

I would be interested in hearing from other managers who have been challenged with affecting change, as to what has worked for them.

What has worked for you?