3 Necessary Things Needed to Build a Powerful Change Toolkit

The value of any toolkit isn’t in the tools themselves—it’s in the knowledge and judgment of the person using them.

That idea came to mind as I flipped through our new The Readiness Mindset® workbook. It’s filled with fresh insights, tools, and techniques designed to support healthy and sustainable organizational change. I’m excited to put it into the hands of our clients as we explore these approaches together.

One question we’re often asked is: Why can’t the workbook be purchased on its own?

The answer is simple. A toolkit, by itself, is not enough to help you develop and adopt a Readiness Mindset. In fact, relying too heavily on tools alone can introduce real risks to your change efforts.

Let’s explore those risks, and more importantly, what you need to build an effective organizational change toolkit.

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Make the Change Journey Comfortable

A post I shared on LinkedIn about how you can’t manage someone’s change journey – but you can make that journey as comfortable as possible- led to an interesting comment and an important question.

Why do we have to make the journey as comfortable as possible? Why does change need to be comfortable for everyone?

After all, growth happens when we are outside our comfort zone. It’s also where resilience can develop.  The person commenting gave examples like running marathons, climbing mountains, or lifting heavy weights. These are all uncomfortable, yet worthwhile.

It’s a fair challenge, and one I hear often from clients. The idea of “comfortable change” can feel contradictory. But understanding what that actually means is essential to creating lasting change.

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Steady State: The Secret to Ensuring Change Sticks

Every day, we engage in activities and behaviours we are not consciously choosing.

For example, your morning routine?

Morning routines like getting out of bed, getting dressed, or brushing your teeth happen almost automatically. You might even order a latte and a cookie without realizing you’re not hungry. Around 80% of our behaviour is driven by implicit memory, operating outside conscious awareness.

That’s why you can implement a change in your organization, train people on a new activity or behaviour, and not see the expected results.

You think it’s resistance. It’s not.

The real issue lies in a critical, often-overlooked phase of the change process that happens after implementation: steady state.

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Build Trust When Employees Are “Resistant” To Change

Trust is a lot like our health. When we have it, we don’t give it a second thought. But when it’s missing, everything starts to break down.

In organizations, trust is what separates those who are ready for change from those who struggle. Leaders trust their employees, and employees trust their leaders. But that trust can quickly erode when you label people as “resistant to change.”

So how do you build and maintain trust when it feels like people are pushing back?

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One Question Not to Ask When Leading Change

When it comes to leading change, one question often causes miscommunication, conflict, and false expectations. It can prevent insights and limit information.

Successful CEOs and change leaders don’t ask questions to confirm what they know. They ask to understand, gain insight, and make decisions.

Yet one common leadership question can unintentionally create confusion, set up false expectations,  prevent insights and limit information. That question:

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