Small change: it’s all in the rhythm

“The rhythm is gonna get you,” sang Gloria Estefan in 1987, and the world grooved along. But while Estefan’s Hypothesis had merit in the clubs of Miami (and, perhaps, Burnley), in a change context it quickly proves false.

It is not the rhythm that is gonna get you: it is the lack of it.

Look at any failing change process and you will see people playing out of time. Irregular communication, incoherent internal choreography, and inexpert tempo management create confusion, disorder and drift.

The solution, oddly enough, is to be found in another Estefan song title. When change is going wrong, you do, indeed, need “Dr Beat”.

(No, we also have no idea why this email hinged on Gloria Estefan references, but here we are.)

Something to consider: how good are we at the rhythm thing?

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