Last week I introduced the underlying concepts and premises for two theories of organizational change – from John Kotter and Black & Gregersen- based on the influence and value of individual commitment to new behaviors, practices and attitudes.
To start off the week, I dive a bit deeper into these theories, and repeat myself a bit, just to emphasize the importance of the shift from the old Command & Control school of thought that reinforced the idea of a hero that drives change forward despite seemingly insurmountable odds. For organizations that retain remnants of the obsolete heroic leadership culture, recognizing the value of the individual requires adoption of different attitudes, strategies and tactics . See this article - The Problem with Heroic Leaders for a discussion of why heroic leaders may not be a blessing.
Motivating individuals to adapt and adopt new ways of working requires leadership, in addition to management. Both are required, however, of the two skills leadership provides the catalyst to move and management provides the measurement and maintenance components to maintain either the old order or the desired, new order.
Kotter on Leading Change
In this video, John Kotter discusses the difference between “change management” and “change leadership,” and whether it’s just a matter of semantics.
Kotter offers an 8-step methodology for leading change that connects individual attitudes, management actions, corporate culture and customer value. Kotter describes the eight errors that lead to the failure of change initiatives. The errors cited are allowing too much complacency, failing to create a sufficiently powerful guiding coalition, underestimating the power of vision, under communicating the vision, permitting obstacles to block the new vision, failure to create short-term wins, declaring victory too soon, and neglecting to anchor changes firmly into the corporate culture.
The eight most common mistakes, in a world in which the frequency and magnitude of changes required is increasing, leads to the following consequences:
“New strategies aren’t implemented well; Acquisitions don’t achieve expected synergies; Reengineering takes too long and costs too much; Downsizing doesn’t get costs under control; Quality programs don’t deliver hoped-for results” (Leading Change).
Kotter emphasized the effect of globalized markets and competition on the increased pace of change and its consequences in our lives. An eight-stage process was introduced to successfully drive change. The eight stages correlate to the list of eight errors introduced last week. Kotter stresses the importance of the correct sequence of the eight stages for successful change. The importance of leadership was emphasized to establish direction, and then communicate that direction to align, motivate and inspire change to produce new products and processes that make firms more productive.
It Starts With One
Black and Gregersen explain their premise of “changing individuals first; then the organization follows.” Black and Gregersen present a simplified approach to change leadership that complements Kotter’s widely recognized eight-stage model. The three-stage method that can be easily remembered and applied under pressure is believed to be more effective, allowing a practitioner to focus upon the critical 20 percent of factors that account for 80 percent of results (Pareto’s Rule).
Black and Gregersen equate barriers to change, that must be overcome by individuals in an organization, to the unseen and misunderstood sound barrier. Mental maps are an “ancient biological coding of hanging on to what works until undeniable evidence mounts to prove that the old map no longer fits the new environment.”
Three barriers, referred to as the “see, move, and finish barriers” are explained. I like visuals, don’t you? This video captures an F-18 Super Hornet as it hits Mach I – the speed of sound. Similar to the barriers that Black & Gregersen discuss, sound waves are invisible to the naked eye. The reason that you can see the plane in this video break through the sound barrier is that shock waves compress moisture in the air to form a temporary cloud.
“Interesting, but what does this have to do with leading change?” you might ask. As we interviewed and observed managers, we consistently found that there seemed to be a natural barrier to change—a brain barrier. Like the sound barrier, the faster a leader tried to push change, the more shock waves of resistance compacted together, forming a massive barrier to change (It Starts With One).
To break through the first barrier, the inability to see the need for change, individuals must see past prior successes that cause retention of old mental maps used to guide individual’s current and future behaviors.
Based upon research and experience spanning twenty years of work, with more than 10,000 managers, Black and Gregersen cite the failure rate for change initiatives as being close to 80 percent. The importance of adopting an effective method to lead change in today’s organizations was illustrated using examples of past business change, plus evidence of increasing change rate, magnitude, and unpredictability.
The implications of leading change are naturally affected by the increase in pace, size, unpredictability and globalization of world markets. To successfully affect change in corporations, frequently requires changes from individuals, both employees and leadership. Leading by example is expected by employees who watch management behaviors, however the individual’s ability to overcome mental maps developed during previously successful experiences proves much more difficult than many anticipate.
Why Does It Matter?
Modern organizations are too complex to be transformed by a single person. Leadership and collaboration are keys to producing successful change. Management provides planning, budgeting, organizing and staffing, controlling and problem solving necessary to produce a sense of predictability and order.
I have found these concepts pertinent for driving organizational change and, in line with experiences from my career. Modern organizations are complex, and the rate and complexity of change is increasing but individuals’ ability to see, move toward and accept change remain key to running adaptable and effective enterprises into the 21st Century.
KWabst - 