Are you trying to transform a university so it better prepares students for a changing workplace? Or do you want to reduce the impact of critical skill shortages? In either case, you need to effectively implement major changes in your organization.

But change guru John Kotter estimates that 70 percent of all organizational change initiatives fail. So the odds are definitely stacked against you. You may have great solutions planned, but if you don’t understand the dynamics of effective organizational change, you won’t get the results needed.

I’ve recently worked with two East Coast colleges struggling to transform themselves in the face of intense competition. No matter how the market for talent is shifting in your business, here are three mistakes to avoid when trying to implement the major organizational changes you need to be successful.

1. Find the feeling about why this change matters.

Even though clarifying the business case is important, don’t get caught up in analytics. One university I’ve worked with has multiple change initiatives under way from new degree programs to transforming the student advising process. But the provost, deans and faculty were so caught up in the mechanics of implementation that they had lost the emotional connection to “why” they should care about these projects. In a workshop, I helped the senior leadership team re-engage with questions like:

• Why is this initiative personally important to key stakeholders? What will it mean to you if the project succeeds? How will you feel if it fails?
• Who will benefit from the changes brought on by this initiative? Why will it matter to them? How will they feel if it succeeds?
• Why is this project important to the organization? What impact will it have?

There are way too many distractions and responsibilities in organizations today to think change will happen if people aren’t emotionally committed to it. It is easy to fall back on the logical reasons for why new initiatives and strategic change are important. But you must continually help your team reconnect with the emotional reasons of why a specific change initiative really matters to them and the organization. In Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, Chip & Dan Heath call this critical step “find the feeling.”

2. Clarify and test assumptions about how proposed changes will actually impact your organization’s performance.

The president of one college I worked with is determined to improve his school’s reputation in the marketplace to increase applications and boost fund raising. He charged his executive team with developing new initiatives that would enhance existing curriculum, even though there was no evidence these changes would be viewed as important by prospective students and their parents.

Many leaders support major change initiatives without a clear, shared understanding of how their proposed programs will positively impact organizational performance. Of course, every problem doesn’t have a solution that can be engineered, given the complexities of many business models and the impact of soft variables, such as culture and leadership style. But effectively leading organizational change means being disciplined in identifying the few critical behaviors that will really make a difference in performance. Start with questions such as:

• What critical choices will people have to make in daily practice to achieve the performance outcomes we want?
• Can we identify specific behaviors or very detailed actions that will have the biggest impact on the results we want?
• And to support the implementation process: Are there specific behaviors our change team should practice to increase the initiative’s chances of success? (e.g., a weekly status meeting)

3. Don’t assume chief executives understand change dynamics.

Senior leaders have a lot on their minds today, and I’ve found that the practical details of managing change are something many executives have lost sight of. When it comes to managing change, don’t assume the boss gets it!

Connecting with the emotional reasons for change, clearly linking specific initiatives to strategic objectives, the challenges of repeatedly communicating change objectives to the organization, and the need to identify short-term wins. These are just some of the activities top managers are likely to overlook. They will often benefit from some focused coaching on what they need to be doing in their leadership role to make sure change succeeds.

Whether you’re implementing new initiatives in response to a changing workforce or a shifting higher education landscape, learn from the mistakes of others. Start by “finding the feeling” of why this change matters. Then identify specific new behaviors that will have the biggest impact on results. Finally, don’t assume your leaders understand the intricacies of managing change. Get them some help. Only then will the odds of success tip in your favor.