Equipping individuals and teams to influence organizational change

99 Ways to Influence Change

If changing the behavior of others followed just a few simple steps, it would be easy!  As someone who has tried to implement change in an organization, you know that it’s usually not.  That’s because there are a lot of ways to influence people to change the way they work, and not all of them are effective in every situation or with every person.

When you set out to change your organization, or feel like everything you’ve tried hasn’t worked, consider the following list of 99 Ways to Influence Change (download a 1-page checklist):

  1. Tell stories
  2. Model behavior
  3. Involve people
  4. Say “please”
  5. Allow failure
  6. Ridicule
  7. Generate scarcity
  8. Transfer ownership
  9. Clarify expectations
  10. Provide feedback
  11. Establish a sense of urgency
  12. Remove status quo enablers
  13. Acknowledge fears
  14. Show you care
  15. Start conversations
  16. Demand compliance
  17. Develop support systems
  18. Admit mistakes
  19. Make it viral
  20. Remove obstacles
  21. Show that others are doing it
  22. Tell the truth
  23. Ask for ideas
  24. Make it easy
  25. Rely on friends
  26. Beg
  27. Instigate competition
  28. Instill curiosity
  29. Reframe it
  30. Customize learning
  31. Set the default
  32. Build trust
  33. Listen
  34. Bribe
  35. Encourage
  36. Prioritize
  37. Give praise
  38. Educate
  39. Help them succeed
  40. Build new skills
  41. Do favors
  42. Fix problems
  43. Keep promises
  44. Remove doubt
  45. Laugh about it
  46. Provide useful tools
  47. Join forces
  48. Remove dead weight
  49. Point to the destination
  50. Address objections
  51. Drop names
  52. Celebrate success
  53. Connect to values
  54. Say “thank you”
  55. Be consistent
  56. Invite to participate
  57. Find the emotion
  58. Ask for help
  59. Incite a riot
  60. Identify key behaviors
  61. Keep it simple
  62. Share what works
  63. Adjust the environment
  64. Hold them accountable
  65. Induce guilt
  66. Respect resistance
  67. Go first
  68. Gain commitment
  69. Make it fun
  70. Be flexible
  71. Measure progress
  72. Be patient
  73. Shrink it
  74. Establish authority
  75. Get leadership support
  76. Recognize success
  77. Generate short-term wins
  78. Eliminate noise
  79. Flatter
  80. Empower
  81. Nag
  82. Enlist early adopters
  83. Increase awareness
  84. Install new habits
  85. Threaten
  86. Assign responsibility
  87. Build relationships
  88. Share in the design
  89. Reduce risk
  90. Establish deadlines
  91. Foster resilience
  92. Set clear goals
  93. Entertain
  94. Incorporate into identity
  95. Design choices
  96. Show respect
  97. Harness peer pressure
  98. Communicate
  99. Offer incentives

Which is your favorite?  Did I miss anything?  Please share in the comments below.