“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” – General Eric Shinseki
“New ideas pass through three periods: (1) It can’t be done; (2) It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing; and (3) I knew it was a good idea all along!” – Arthur C. Clarke
Everybody – and every organization – reacts differently to change, whether incremental, small changes such as a tweak to a policy or procedure; or massive organizational changes such as the elimination of a business or the imposition of a public order. Understanding these dynamics is critical in managing change. The notes below are taken from three books I’ve read on change management: Kotter’s “A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management”; Kruger’s “Change Management Iceberg”; and Trice & Beyer’s “The Culture of Work Organizations”. Some of these points are obvious and known, others are not so obvious … but keeping all of these in mind as you personally navigate change or are responsible for leading a project implementing organizational change will help you, and your team and organization, succeed.
Change must occur in eight phases, in order:
- Establish a sense of urgency
- Create a coalition
- Develop a clear vision
- Share the vision
- Empower the people in order to clear obstacles
- Secure short-term wins
- Consolidate and keep moving
- Anchor the changes
There are four reasons why people resist change:
- Parochial self-interest
- Misunderstanding due to poor communication or lack of communication
- Low tolerance to change (physiological, cognitive, emotional)
- Different assessments of the situation
The way(s) to deal with change can be put into six buckets:
- Education and communication – inform and educate about the change before trying to implement it to keep the noise down
- Participation and involvement – particularly of those that are or are expected to resist
- Facilitation and support – to deal with fear and anxiety during the change process, particularly where there will be, or perceived to be, lost jobs
- Negotiation and agreement – with the people/group(s) that will be most adversely impacted by the change and can influence the outcome
- Manipulation – when nothing else works. Caution!
- Coercion – explicit and implicit … where speed is essential but only as a last resort
There are four groups of people in any change management effort:
- Known Proponents/Promoters – positive general attitude about change and a positive behavior towards the change
- Potential Promoters – positive general attitude about change but not yet convinced that this change effort is positive
- Known Opponents – negative general attitude to change and negative behavior to this particular change effort
- Hidden Opponents or Opportunists – a negative general attitude but they act like they’re supportive, and otherwise actively or passively resist and obstruct change
There are eight reasons why many change efforts fail:
- Allowing too much complexity
- Failing to build a sustainable coalition
- Not understanding the need for a clear vision
- Failing to clearly communicate the vision
- Permitting roadblocks against the vision
- Not planning for short-term results and then not realizing them
- Declaring victory too soon
- Failing to anchor the changes into the company’s culture