What Broadway can teach us about making change stick
Cost, time, and energy aren’t the only similarities between putting up a Broadway show and implementing large-scale organizational change.
Whether it’s introducing new values, a revised goal-setting process, or a return-to-office plan, when a leader takes a proverbial stage, the spotlight is on them to marry a message with a moment to affect change that sticks.
Yet, we know, more than half of change initiatives fail. Here are 3 lessons from Broadway’s proven musical formula to engage others in the changes we seek.
1. Know your ‘I Want’ Song
“My Shot” from Hamilton, “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, or “The Wizard and I” from Wicked are all examples of ‘I Want’ songs.
An “I Want’ song is typically one of the first songs in a musical used as a device to quickly loop in the audience to the motivation of the main character. These motivations often drive their action throughout the rest of the show.
A musical needs an ‘I want’ song like a car needs an engine. The equivalent in our organization is a clear problem to solve.
For change to be embraced or adopted everyone needs to be bought into the problem. When we take the virtual or in-person stage at All-Hands, everyone needs to know what’s at stake before we introduce a solution.
No, ‘I want’ songs aren’t about a main character wanting a cookie. The wants are big enough to demand an entire musical. They are also personal and vulnerable enough to feel connected to and root for the character behind the want. The same stakes apply to our organizations. If we don’t know why the person introducing the change cares, why should the employees?
Stakes get raised not just with desire, but with data. Retention/attrition numbers, engagement surveys, revenue, or other business metrics give the problems we aim to solve some heft and signal they are heavy enough to be worthy of our time and attention.
This tension pulls others in by presenting not just a challenge but curiosity toward the resolution.
If nothing is at stake, or there isn’t a clear want, our initiatives run the danger of becoming check-the-box initiatives that people may comply with but not necessarily be engaged enough with to follow to the end.
2. Have a conversation
We can rehearse our speech alone all we want, but we need others if we want our message to stick and spread.
“We’ve been rehearsing as a company and with the band for the past few weeks, but what we were waiting for is tonight”, said Broadway’s Come From Away company member Joel Hatch at the curtain call speech of their re-opening night post-pandemic shutdown.
“Because that’s when you, the audience joined the conversation”.
“I don’t know if you realize how much we listen to you”, he continued towards the audience. We hear the laughter, we hear the cheers, but we also hear the silent moments when an idea is received by a community.”
Change and the gatherings we use to spark them are meant to be done with employees, not at them.
Which begs the question to ask, why do we need an audience?
It’s tempting to plow through our slide deck, pausing only at the end to answer questions. Be able to ask and answer why you’ve gathered everyone together. If the answer is just to push out information so that others inform or comply, consider pivoting to asynchronous methods.
Having a conversation with your employees about your change effort doesn’t mean you change the script. Broadways shows don’t change dialogue or stage directions each night. What does change is their ability to be affected by what they hear back from their audience.
This two-way conversation concludes at the end of the show with a show of gratitude. An audience claps, and an actor bows. Both need each other.
3. Leave them with hope
New values, new management behaviors, and even a new company policy. Fear is a natural and often necessary part of change and transformation. It involves asking people to go to a place they are often terrified to go to or let go of. Though it can originate from fear, a strong why ultimately relies on hope.
Fear can be a strong motivator. It’s the push of fear that so many change efforts prey on. You can call it the inciting incident, the stick, or the ‘burning platform’.
There are gatherers (and their change efforts) who push us into a state of fear and keep us there. Others lead us towards a new way. They leave us with hope instead.
The gatherings that stick with us also take us on this journey. They lead us not just from slide to slide or from song to song but from A to B. They know we each have a desire for something to be different by the end - and though we may start with fear, they leave us with hope.
Broadway legend Audra McDonald concludes her concerts with the uplifting, “Climb Every Mountain”.
Both fear and hope can bring us together. But only one puts us back together. It is the job of the gatherer to fill in the gap and get us to the other side.
Lindsey Caplan is a screenwriter turned organizational psychologist who helps HR & business leaders create experiences that boost motivation, engagement, and performance