Everyone prefers belief to the exercise of judgment.
—Lucius Annaeus Seneca (1st century A.D)

This secret is a reminder to continually characterize the Jack-in-the-box and the various stakeholders’ change responses.

Remember the stories of Harry Houdini, the famous magician and escape artist from the early twentieth century? Houdini entertained people for many years with his “magical” escape acts. He apparently felt this was all good fun and entertainment for his audiences. But when a group of people started to gain fame by claiming they could “channel” communications from deceased loved ones, he felt the people who were led to believe they were talking to their deceased loved ones were being exploited and harmed. As a magician, Houdini knew all the tricks being employed by the “channelers.” He became incensed and worked feverishly to expose the fraud.

This may sound heretical, but a change leader needs to be a skeptic—just as Houdini the magician was skeptical of magic. To be a successful change leader you must be extremely trustworthy. Otherwise, people simply will not follow your lead.

When people say things that sound too good to be true, or the plan of record calls for “magic happens here,” be very, very careful what you are getting into. Your trustworthiness will be tarnished if you become associated with empty facts or empty results. (I hope it goes without saying that, for the same reasons, you should not perpetrate “magic” yourself.)

Develop your “brand identity” as a person with the following qualities:

To avoid “magical” surprises, Jacks popping out the box, being sent on “wild goose chases” or just simple miscommunications, you should diligently seek to improve your understanding of the force fields of each stakeholder. To use spy terms, you should continually collect intelligence and maintain a psychological dossier of all stakeholders. What are each person’s internal needs? How do they tend to behave? How do they tend to cope? What strategies do they rely on? What have been their change responses in similar situations in the past? How is the current situation different? and so on.

Be skeptical at all times. Never tarnish your trustworthiness. Be “intelligent”—know what is up the magician’s sleeve.