They say you must be the change you want to see in the world. If you want to see changes in the workplace, why not lead the way? You have more influence than you think. It starts with an inclination to challenge the status quo and imagine a better future. Most importantly, it starts with caring. 

“Changemakers get inspired by looking at how things are and use that inspiration to imagine how outcomes could be better if the processes and activities were done differently,” according to Mike S. Wills, Assistant Professor at the College of Business at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “That’s key here: changemakers look not just at process change for the sake of changing the process, but at the ways in which the outcomes of such changes bring more value to the organization, its people, its stakeholders, and its greater community.” 

Organizations need people with that mindset more than ever. According to a Gartner report, the typical organization today has undertaken five major firmwide changes in the past three years — and nearly 75% expect to multiply the types of major change initiatives they will undertake in the next three years. Change is the new normal, and changemakers are the professionals who anticipate changes and are proactive about evolving and innovating. 

This isn’t just a business fact – it applies to life in general. “Change is life, and life is change. Stop changing, you stop learning; stop learning, and you’re on your way to dying. That holds for people as well as for organizations and societies,” says Wills. 

Ready to get ahead of the curve and make a positive impact? Here are five habits to embrace if you want to become a changemaker. 

1. Ask questions 

Challenging assumptions is one of the pillars of change. “Every aspect of everything we do as humans can be looked at with fresh eyes, eyes that challenge its underlying assumptions. Most of those assumptions haven’t been challenged in years, if not longer,” according to Wills. 

Get curious and start asking questions to understand the underlying why behind the day-to-day processes that people take for granted within your organization. “Ask questions first about how and why the current ‘way of doing business’ is the way it is,” adds Wills. “This can give you powerful insights into performance requirements or needs that have never been expressed or openly acknowledged.” 

2. Talk to people 

Talking to people is generally a good idea if you want to become a changemaker – both in and outside of your team. Wills recommends learning what other stakeholders do, how they do it, and how they measure or define success. Not only will this help you gather precious insights and uncover opportunities for positive change, but it will also nurture relationships that may just become key when the time comes to implement changes. 

3. Zoom out 

You can’t spot opportunities for change if you’re too entrenched in a silo. It’s important to zoom out and consider the bigger context behind what is going on at work, says Wills: “Look for the bigger picture. Consider the context or setting of the activity, process, input, or output that just caught your mind’s eye and got you thinking about change.” 

4. Think in terms of systems 

On that note, Wills recommends thinking like “a systems thinker.” According to TechTarget, systems thinking is “a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the way that a system’s constituent parts interrelate and how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems.” In other words, it’s about looking at the whole rather than breaking down your analysis into distinct parts. 

“Everything is connected; look for those connections. Chances are good to excellent that the changes you’re considering proposing might ripple more changes into more organizational systems and processes,” says Wills. 

5. Be willing to take risks 

Changemakers do their homework and are well-informed. They are not reckless when it comes to leading changes. Yet they are also bold and daring and unafraid to take risks when required. “Be willing to take risks, and trust what your instincts and your experience are trying to tell you,” adds Wills. “There’s an unlimited world of opportunities for better, faster, more elegant, more meaningful things to do and ways to do them ‘out there’ and ‘in here,’ facing all of us.” 

In a world where it’s easy to get disillusioned about the state of things and the obstacles we face, it sure is an empowering – and constructive – way to see things.