Some people hear "we're changing how we work" and feel a lift. Others hear the same sentence and feel their shoulders drop. Same meeting, same slide, two completely different mornings.
Jessica and Brian look at why. Nobody is for change or against it. Everybody is asking a question first, and three questions arrive before any opinion does: the pace, the people and the proof.
You will hear two stories from one team, a colleague who is delighted by a new project tool and one who asks what happens to three client projects mid-move, and why neither of them was wrong. Jessica owns up to changing a weekly check-in on a Monday with no warning, and taking the quiet in the room as a yes.
In this episode
• 0:00 Same sentence, two different mornings
• 0:25 The three questions that arrive before any opinion: pace, people, proof
• 3:01 Two stories from one team
• 5:00 Which question do you ask first?
The three questions behind every reaction to change
The pace is how fast this is going to move. For some people a change only becomes real once it starts, and waiting is the cost. For others the same speed feels like being rushed past the part where it gets worked out.
The people is who this lands on. Some people read every change through the humans in it: who covers the handover, who has been left out of the loop, who suddenly has twice the work. Until that is answered, they cannot hear anything else.
The proof is "show me". Some people will not move until they have seen it work somewhere, a pilot, a number or a case. It is not negativity. They are the ones who will be asked later whether it worked.
When nobody answers the first question someone is asking, it comes out sounding like a no.
Try this the next time a change is announced
1. Before you react, name which question you are asking: pace, people or proof. Just to yourself.
2. Say that question out loud before your opinion. How fast, who for, or show me.
3. When someone pushes back, do not answer the objection. Ask which of the three they are really asking.
Go deeper
Which question do you ask first? It is usually the one you would call just being realistic, and it is the one you have never seen from the outside. The Colour Personality Quiz is twelve questions, three minutes, free. It names your colour. Start there: Take the Colour Personality Quiz.
Related reading on Best of Motivation
• Colour personality test
• How to deal with a toxic coworker
Support the show
If this episode helped you think more clearly, try the free Colour Personality Quiz at bestofmotivation.com/personality-color-quiz — it takes 2 minutes and shows you how you lead, decide, and communicate.
Best of Motivation is a quiet, reflective podcast about clarity, decisions, and navigating work and life with intention.
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