Geena Davis said,  “. . . when ‘Thelma and Louise’ came out the reaction was so overwhelming that it made me realize how few opportunities we have for women to feel like that coming out of a movie.” So, she created the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to address this problem.

“I go to meetings at the guilds and networks and studios and production companies and present the research in a private and collegial way. And the reaction is fantastic, because they’re shocked and horrified, and they want to make a change.”

With all the books, consultants, and decades of experience leading major organizational changes, I keep expecting the success rate of these major projects to rise, but the failure rate still remains high.

Back in 1995, when I first started writing about change in organizations, the failure rate was about 70 percent. In 2008, IBM conducted a major international study of C-level executives and found that only about 40 percent of those changes succeeded. In 2013, a Towers Watson study found a long-term success rate of 25 percent.

There is a good reason why people don't tell you the truth. (Wait for it.) They aren't idiots.

A senior manager in a small privately-owned company told me they would warn new hires to never criticize the owner’s ideas in a meeting. But, some enthusiastic newbies didn’t listen. They wanted to make their mark, show their worth, and that was pretty much the last anyone ever saw of them.

Several years ago, the director of a non-profit I support invited me to come to have a cup of coffee. I was told the team wanted to share about some new programs and the progress the non-profit was making. The meeting was set up as if they were only going to share about their latest news. However, in the end, the reason for my visit was revealed and they started talking about my annual contribution. I was caught off guard and somewhat offended by the surprise solicitation for money and felt it would have been better if I had known it was coming.

I learned recently that I’m not alone with feeling this way. I had the pleasure of having a conversation with Lynette Zimmerman, president and CEO of Key Elements Group, LLC last week. Lynette consults with non-profits on strategic fundraising. She said what I experienced was unfortunately common mistakes people make when asking for support: asking too soon and not being straightforward about it.

Would it surprise you to learn that most people don’t quit their jobs because they found a higher paying job? 

While many managers believe people primarily leave for more money, it is actually not the case. Money can be part of the reason, but it is rarely the primary factor.