Written by: Vickie Sullivan | January 05, 2023
How to Prepare Clients for Change
As thought leaders, we work hard to prepare folks for big changes ahead. It can be difficult to do when trying to position a new perspective in entrenched territory, but not impossible.
Family attorney Diana Adams’ talk from TEDWomen 2021, titled Why US Law Must Expand Beyond the Nuclear Family, is a great example of how to do it.
In her TEDTalk, Adams advocates changing family law by challenging how we define families. Her point: The typical nuclear family isn’t the only option anymore. Therefore, the many laws designed to benefit families don’t apply to what’s really going on. Talk about a big swing.
2 Ways to Pave the Way for Change
To pave the way for supporting those changes, Adams must advocate a new reality. Two things she does well that we can copy:
• Use data that show change. Adams uses great stories to make a compelling argument. With stats from credible outsiders, she became accurate. The data helps her identify trends rather than isolated incidents. She positions these different family configurations as our new normal.
• Introduce new criteria. Questions with stories make people think bigger. After many examples, Adams finally proposes a new definition for family: “people who are committed to be there for each other, no matter what.” She uses commitment as the new criteria, aspirational enough to make her call to action (value families as they exist) seem less extreme.
Listen: 2 Ways Statistics Pave the Way for Change
Helping people embrace a new reality is difficult when systems and practices are built around the old thinking. Positioning the new reality as something aspirational and safe can pave the way for new behaviors to take hold.
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