Wesley was happy. “I stayed up most of the night last night, couldn’t sleep. I finally figured out a new process for the way we inspect parts coming off the line. It should speed things up and detect almost all the product defects.”

“Congratulations,” I smiled. “How is the team responding to the new process?”

“Oh, they don’t know about it yet,” Wesley replied. “I have a meeting with them in about ten minutes. I am sure they are going to be enthusiastic about the changes.”

“Quite certain, are you?” I continued to smile.

“I can tell by your question that you think I am overoptimistic about the team’s reaction.”

I chuckled. “Yes. You have a new story to tell the team that is different from the old story the team has been living with. You can see things about this new process that your team may struggle with. And, their old story will support their struggle. Do not underestimate the power of the story people tell themselves. Your new story has to pull the team all the way through the struggle so they begin to see what you see.”