BEWARE THE SLOGAN

As I write, there’s a palpable sense of anticipation about Japan’s recently elected Takaichi administration. It isn’t just that Sanae Takaichi is Japan’s first female prime minister that’s drawing attention; there’s a deeper hope that this time, after so many years of failed administrations, something might actually change in the country. People are excited by the possibility of transformation.

Turning the tide

This kind of hope for change isn’t unique to politics. It surfaces in organisations every time a new CEO takes the helm. When performance flags and morale dips, people naturally look for a figure who will turn the tide. And yet it often fails to turn. Results don’t improve, momentum stalls. 

I’ve seen this firsthand: at a company where I once worked, the introduction of the first ever marketing executive was met with almost messianic optimism. Excitement radiated throughout the office — colleagues literally spoke as if a saviour had arrived. But, just as it’s happened with many other companies, that enthusiasm soon faded. The new executive did offer fresh energy and visionary speeches, but nothing more. The company didn’t change, and so it remained inert. 

Why does this happen? Because, too often, what’s labelled strategy is nothing more than a long checklist, and what’s offered as inspiration are only slogans with no real grounding in proper change.

Strategy isn’t a checklist

A long list of hoped-for actions doesn’t signal strategic clarity — it betrays a lack of focus. Real strategy is not about piling up tasks; it’s about deciding what not to do. About focussing on what really needs changing. When leaders try to tackle every problem, nothing receives the thoughtful execution it deserves. Without the discipline involved in choosing what to fix, even the most passionate leader ends up diluted, stretched thin across too many fronts.

And nothing changes.

Beware the slogan

The other common stumbling block for change is a reliance on abstract motivational slogans — phrases such as No.1 in customer satisfaction, or Driving innovation, or Changing the world together. These may all sound inspiring, but they fail where it matters most: in guiding action. No one takes action because a slogan sounds good. People act when they know what to do next. 

Motivation fails not for lack of will, but for lack of clear signal.

Taking root

In their book Switch, Chip and Dan Heath offer a clear framework for understanding why people and organisations struggle to change — and how change actually takes root. They explain that it doesn’t fail because people are stubborn. It fails because:

• The direction is unclear
• Emotions aren’t engaged
• The organisational environment stays the same.

Riders and elephants

The Heaths explain that humans carry within them two forces: a rational rider who thinks and plans, and an emotional elephant who carries out action. They write that logic alone won’t move the elephant. You first need to guide the rider, then engage the elephant.  And you need to build the right environment for them to work in.

• Guide the rider
  Instead of lofty visions, offer specifics: what to do, when to do it, how and why to do it. It also helps to highlight small successes already happening. They’ll help light the way forward.

• Engage the elephant
  Once you’ve specified the actions, break them into small, achievable steps that will build confidence and emotional engagement as each one is completed. Big changes coming all at once will only unsettle people and prevent them getting started.

• Build the environment
  Build a work environment in which the actions you want to happen can happen naturally. An environment which allows for change and welcomes it.

Clear and direct

Switch illustrates such change with a compelling example taken from a hospital trying to improve overall operations. Cleaning staff faced with a broad exhortation to ‘Improve patient care’ had no clear idea of where to begin. But when they were asked to ‘Complete bed cleaning within 30 minutes after discharge’, they knew what to do and mobilised instantly. Change came easily.

Change Is an Architecture, Not a Rallying Cry

We tend to romanticise transformation. We like to imagine it rising out of willpower or eloquence. But good leadership isn’t about delivering stirring speeches. Grand words alone won’t move people to action. True leadership means designing conditions in which people can start to act, step by step, with clarity and confidence.

Change begins with clear, specific instructions that make action possible.