Those who don’t believe in Magic will never find it

What do you want to move in 2021?

What would I like to move in 2021? The answer to this question, on a personal level, is really simple: myself. Because after the initial euphoria and boundless enthusiasm of dipping daily into the overflowing banquet of home workouts and using the newly gained Corona-home-office-time for physical exercise, the motivation curve has unfortunately flattened quicker than the infection numbers.

So why, in the context of a glance towards 2021, am I going on about Corona of all things, when we should all be raising a glass – in light of optimism-encouraging developments in the “race for a vaccine” – to less of a state of emergency and more of a state of normality that lies ahead for us?

For another simple reason: because the virus, along with all the difficulties it’s brought and the challenges facing us, has also ensured that we’ve rediscovered a few important and partly forgotten virtues that hopefully in the coming year we’ll keep with us: gratitude, valuing the little things in life, altruism, mindfulness and an awareness of what’s really important.

It has also let us see what’s possible when we all act together to pursue a clear objective, striving with the necessary fervour and urgency. Made possible by a clear narrative (#flattenthecurve, #wearestayingathome, #togetheragainstcorona) that has even persuaded the last doubters – maverick thinkers consciously excepted – that we need a definitive change in our behaviour if we want to reach this common social goal.

Narratives can have the same effect when it comes to desired changes in behaviour in the context of organisational transformation, because they convey meaning and bring out a collective vision, create belief and generate trust, provide orientation and take away fear of the unknown. Don’t you think so? They wouldn’t work otherwise – as the British author Roald Dahl said: “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

I’m firmly convinced of this and I’d like in 2021 to help our clients find this magic and use it, for themselves and for their plans and projects of transformation.