Have you ever had an improvement idea that was absolutely the right thing to do… and it still went nowhere?

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The data was solid. The problem was real. The people closest to the work agreed it needed to happen. And yet somehow the project stalled, got deprioritized, or quietly died in a meeting.

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If you've ever experienced that, you're not alone.

In this episode of *Thoughts on Change*, we're continuing the C.H.A.N.G.E. Shaper™ series with the **N: Navigate the Business Environment**.

Because here's a hard truth many Continuous Improvement practitioners eventually learn:

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**The best idea rarely wins. The idea that fits the environment does.**

 

What You'll Learn

Many of us got into Continuous Improvement because we love solving problems. We want to improve processes, eliminate waste, and make work better.

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What we don't always realize is that organizations aren't just systems of processes.

They're systems of people. And wherever people gather, politics, influence, relationships, competing priorities, and timing all play a role in how decisions get made.

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In this episode, I explore:

• Why "office politics" aren't inherently bad

• How to navigate organizational dynamics without becoming manipulative

• The difference between an org chart and an influence chart

• Why understanding social networks is critical for sustaining change

• How timing can make or break even the best improvement ideas

• The role social capital plays in gaining support for change

• How advocacy and navigation work together to increase your influence

 

The Current Is Stronger Than You Think

One of my favorite metaphors from this episode is the idea of navigating a river.

You can spend all day yelling at the current because you think it should flow differently. Or you can learn how the current moves and use it to help you get where you're trying to go. Organizations work the same way.

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The strongest change leaders aren't the ones who fight the environment. They're the ones who understand it.

 

Four Organizational Currents Every CI Leader Must Understand

1. Goals and Priorities

One of the fastest ways to lose traction is assuming everyone cares about the same things you do.

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You may be focused on waste reduction and flow.

Your plant manager may be focused on labor costs.

Your VP may be focused on customer delivery.

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None of them are wrong. They're simply looking at the business through different lenses.

 

2. Influence (The Real Kind)

Your org chart is not your influence chart. Every organization has unofficial influencers:

• The veteran operator everyone trusts

• The supervisor people listen to

• The engineer whose opinion carries weight

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If you don't understand who influences whom, you're making change much harder than it needs to be.

 

3. Timing

Sometimes your idea isn't wrong. It's just early.

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Many of us respond to resistance by explaining harder, building more slides, and gathering more data. But sometimes the organization simply isn't ready.

 

4. Relationships and Social Capital

Relationships matter. A lot.

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Think of social capital like a bank account. Every time you help, support, listen, and contribute, you make a deposit. Every time you ask for time, attention, resources, or support, you make a withdrawal. Too many withdrawals without deposits eventually leave you overdrawn.

 

An Important Conversation for Women in CI

I also spend some time discussing a reality many women face while building relationships across organizations.

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Building trust, showing genuine interest, and connecting with people are critical change leadership skills. Unfortunately, those behaviors can sometimes be misinterpreted, leading to uncomfortable or inappropriate interactions.

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I share a personal experience and offer practical guidance on:

• Establishing clear boundaries

• Finding allies and advocates within the organization

• Documenting concerns when boundaries are repeatedly crossed

 

No woman should have to navigate those situations alone. If you need help, please get in touch.

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Reflection Questions

As you think about your current change efforts, ask yourself:

• Do I understand the priorities of the people whose support I need?

• Do I know who truly influences this decision?

• Is the timing helping me or hurting me?

• Have I built enough social capital to support this effort?

• Am I fighting the current or working with it?

 

The Big Takeaway

The best change leaders don't just understand processes. They understand the entire environment they are operating in and trying to change. Change doesn't happen in a vacuum. It happens inside organizations full of competing priorities, limited resources, and human beings doing their best.

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When you learn to navigate that environment instead of fighting it, change gets a whole lot easier.

 

Coming Next

Next up in the C.H.A.N.G.E. Shaper™ series:

**Get to the Right People**

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Because sometimes the difference between an idea that spreads and an idea that dies is simply who hears it first.

 

Links:

Video

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Want More Support?

Most of the women I work with aren't struggling because they lack knowledge, skill, or good ideas.

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They're struggling because they can't get those ideas heard, understood, and acted upon.

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They're stuck between leadership priorities and frontline realities, trying to create change without the influence they need.

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That's exactly what we work through inside Credible Heard Used

It's a 5-month development program designed specifically for Continuous Improvement leaders who want to build credibility, increase influence, and get their ideas used.​

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Transcript

Have you ever had an improvement idea that was absolutely the right thing to do, and it still went nowhere? The data was solid, the problem was real and connected to business goals, people on the floor agreed, and yet somehow the project stalled, got deprioritized, or died quietly in a meeting. If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. Most CI people assume that if an idea is good enough, it will win. But organizations don't actually work that way. Today we're diving into the N in Change Shaper, navigate the business environment. Because the best idea rarely wins, but the idea that fits the environment does. Welcome to Thoughts on Change, the podcast about the messy, political, emotional, deeply human side of leading change. I'm Kelly, and I believe anyone can implement lead tools until they actually have to get people to use them. Here we talk about how to move culture, how to build credibility, and how to influence without bulldozing. Basically, how to herd humans without losing your mind. Let's start by talking about a word that makes a lot of CI people uncomfortable. Politics. The moment I say that word, some of you probably cringe. You think, I don't play politics. Politics shouldn't matter. I just want to focus on solving problems. And honestly, me too. But the problem is that organizations are made of humans. And wherever humans gather, politics exist. Politics are simply how decisions get made when multiple priorities, perspectives, and interests collide. That's it. Politics aren't automatically bad, they're just part of the environment. And if you refuse to understand the environment, you can't effectively shape change within it. Think about it this way: Imagine you're kayaking down a river. You can spend all day yelling at the current because you don't think it should move that way. Or you can learn how the current flows and use it to get you where you want to go. One of those approaches is exhausting, and the other actually works. That's what navigating the business environment is like. It's learning how the currents move inside of teams and organizations. Now, before some of you start worrying, navigating the business environment does not mean manipulating people. It doesn't mean becoming fake. It doesn't mean abandoning your values. And it doesn't mean becoming a sleaze ball. It means understanding the system you're operating inside and using that knowledge to your benefit. Because, yes, organizations are systems too. And if you're a systems thinker when it comes to production, quality, and operations, you should also be a systems thinker when it comes to people and decision making. So let's talk about some of the currents that exist inside every organization. Current number one, goals and priorities. One of the biggest mistakes I see CI people make is assuming that everyone shares the same goals and priorities that they do. We, CI people, care deeply about eliminating waste. We care about improving flow. We care about standardization. We care about problem solving. But your VP of operations might be focused on customer delivery. Your plant manager might be focused on labor costs. Your quality manager might be focused on an audit next month. And your production supervisor might simply be trying to survive today's staffing shortage. None of these people are wrong. They're just looking at the business through different lenses. And if you don't understand what matters to them right now, you're going to struggle to get traction. Remember what we talked about in the last episode about advocacy? This is where advocacy and navigation become best friends. Advocacy helps you identify what matters and make those connections. Navigation helps you understand who it matters to and when. All right, current number two, influence. Like for real. This one surprises a lot of people. Your org chart is not the same as your influence chart. Let me say that again. Your org chart is not the same as your influence chart. Just because someone has a title doesn't mean they're the person everyone listens to. Every organization has unofficial influencers. The person everyone calls when something breaks, that veteran operator people trust, the supervisor who has credibility, the admin assistant who somehow knows everything, the engineer everyone respects, the team lead who people follow even when they aren't technically in charge. If you're trying to create change without understanding who influences who and who you need to influence, you're making your job much harder than it needs to be. One of the first things I do when I enter a new organization or team is figure out who people actually listen to, not who they report to, who they listen to. And those are two very different things. I'll also do this for every change I'm working on. Friend of the show, Mark Rosenthal, also talks about this. This is what he calls a sociodiagram, which is a map of the social connections in your organization. This is the actual way that change propagates and is sustained. All right, current number three, timing. Sometimes your idea isn't wrong. It's just early. This is one of the hardest lessons I had to learn. I used to believe that if people didn't immediately support an improvement idea, they just didn't understand it. So naturally, I would explain harder. Then explain even harder. Then create three more slides. Then collect more data. Then explain some more. But it turns out the problem often wasn't my explanation. The organization simply wasn't ready. Maybe there was an acquisition happening. Maybe there was a major customer issue. Maybe leadership was focused on another strategic initiative. Maybe the organization just didn't feel enough pain yet. Sometimes the answer isn't push harder or convince more. Sometimes the answer is wait for a better opening. This can be really hard for us because we see the problem now. But remember from our last episode, just because we see a problem now does not mean we need to solve it now. A seed planted in winter isn't a bad seed. Just the wrong season. All right, current number four, relationships. This is where many CI warriors can get themselves into trouble. We can spend so much time building solutions that we forget to build relationships. Then when we need support, we discover we have no social capital. Now think of social capital like a bank account. Every time you help someone, support someone, listen to someone, or contribute to something important to them, you make a deposit. And every time you ask for support, time, resources, or attention, you make a withdrawal. Some CI practitioners try to make withdrawals all day long without ever making deposits. And eventually the account runs dry or they overdraft. And then they wonder why nobody is helping. Navigating the business environment means intentionally building relationships before you need them. Not because you're trying to use people, because you're trying to understand people. And understanding people helps you create and sustain better change. Now here's something really important. Navigation is not about abandoning your mission, it's about increasing the likelihood your mission succeeds. And a lot of CI people think if I have to adjust my approach, I'm compromising. No, you're adapting. There's a difference. The destination stays the same. The route may change. And good navigators don't force the map to match reality, they adjust the route based on reality. And that's exactly what good change leaders need to do. All right, now I want to address a very real thing for women specifically in the relationship current. Building relationships with people in an organization means that you are being attentive and demonstrating that you care about their experience and what they have to say. And sometimes, because we are women, when we are attentive like this, the other person might misinterpret this as affection. And this can open the door to some unpleasant and unwanted interactions. I have personally experienced this. I have personally been harassed because I was doing what needed to be done to do my job. I was not being overly friendly. I was being true to who I am and trying to connect with people so change would be easier. And one person took this differently. This unfortunately happens. So if you are currently in this situation or you are concerned about getting yourself into this situation, here are some things to do. One, make sure that you set clear boundaries for yourself about what is inappropriate. If you get clear with yourself about where the line is, it will be easier for you to see it when it is crossed. Then you do need to explain that that is a boundary for inappropriate work behavior to the other person. Two, find an ally that is above you in the organization. Because even when you set a boundary and make it clear, like I did, the other person may still choose to cross it over and over again. This is where you need help. Find someone above you in the organization you can escalate this to. It might be your boss, it might be HR, it might be someone from an entirely different department. It does not matter. Find someone. Three, document. This one saved me. You need to document what happened when that person crosses your boundary. This can be as simple as a Word document detailing out the facts of what happened. Documenting like this gives you backup in the horrible case that things progress like they did for me. Now, if you are in a situation like this and you need help, please reach out. No woman should have to deal with this, and especially not alone. Okay. On to reflection. So I want you to think about a change effort you're working on right now. Ask yourself: do I understand the priorities of the people whose support I need? Do I know who influences this decision? Is the timing helping or hurting me? Have I built enough social capital to support this effort? Am I fighting the current or working with it? If you don't know the answers, that's your next improvement opportunity. Before changing the process, spend some time understanding the current environment. Now, as you head back into your daily work, here are some things to consider. What currents am I currently fighting? What pressures are leaders facing right now? Whose priorities do I need to better understand? And does the work I want to do support these priorities? Who are the real influencers in my organization? Where do I need to build more social capital? What would become easier if I stopped pushing against the current and started working with it? The best change leaders don't just understand processes, they understand people, they understand priorities, they understand influence, they understand timing. Ultimately, they understand the environment. Because change doesn't happen in a vacuum. It happens inside organizations full of competing priorities, limited resources, and human beings trying to do their best. And when you learn to navigate that environment, instead of fighting it, change gets a whole lot easier. Next time, we'll move into G in Chain Shaper, which is get to the right people. Because sometimes the difference between an idea that dies and an idea that spreads is simply who hears it first. See you next time. That's a wrap for this episode of Thoughts on Change. If you're also out there trying to move culture instead of just installing tools, hit subscribe and share this with a fellow CI warrior. And remember, progress beats perfection, curiosity beats control, and culture beats everything. See you next time.