Planned obsolescence of change initiatives
June 24, 2009
Sometimes, it can be hard to forget that the goal of any change initiative is to make itself obsolete. You want the change to become part of the day-to-day culture and process of the organization. The processes and attitudes that at first engendered resistance are adopted and incorporated into how the business gets done.
Of course, this doesn’t happen overnight. And you can’t go straight from where you are now to where you want to be. There has to be a journey. The key is to not be sidetracked by the process of change.
Kurt Lewin (1890 – 1947) was the first to describe change as a 3-step process:
- Unfreezing – dismantling the old way, creating a sense of urgency and a need to change
- Changing – a period of transition, challenging the old way but not really knowing what the new way is
- Freezing – a returning to a sense of normalcy and comfort, crystallizing the new way
A good example of this is in a case study I wrote called A Roundabout Path to Increasing Employee Suggestions – the roundabout part is exactly what I’m talking about here.
In the case, the three steps could be described like this:
- Unfreezing – We started a steering committee separate from the executive team to collect and manage ideas. We challenged the concept of paying for ideas.
- Changing – The steering committee collected ideas, and was proactive in the response and tracking. We started a weekly newsletter to keep idea-generation and problem solving at the forefront. Idea submission levels increased dramatically.
- Freezing – Managers started holding regular meetings with their direct reports to identify and discuss opportunities for improvement, and to brainstorm on ways to address the issues that came up. The number of ideas, maintained by managers in a central database, increased even further.
If we had stopped with the centralized suggestion box as the final way for employees to submit suggestions, then we wouldn’t have followed through with the ultimate purpose of the change program: to increase innovation, not because employees submitted more ideas, but because managers asked for and valued them, and involved their teams in solving business problems.
Bottom line: It’s important to not get stuck in the change step, and keep in mind the final state and ultimate mindset change that you are going after. Plan to make your change initiative obsolete.
Inquiry: What will your organization look like when your initiative dissolves?
This post is also featured at Tenacious Tortoise.
A common picture of the ideal organization
May 18, 2009
Even though organizations have different purposes and strategies, I think we tend to have a common picture of the ideal characteristics of an effective organization. I wonder if these are the things you are trying to bring about in your organization:
- Multi-directional trust (leadership, employees, peers)
- Transparency and feedback
- Ample, clear, compelling, consistent communication
- High-performing teams
- Data-based decisions
- Accountability to results
- Clarity of vision
- Congruence of personal work with organizational goals
- Alignment between business units and departments
- Breakdown of silos, turf wars, and self-protection
- Atmosphere of mutual respect
- Employee engagement
- The idea of a “well-oiled machine”, efficient standardized processes
- Effective, value-added meetings
I would love to hear what else you might add to this list, and if any of these would actually decrease your success. Please share using the comments.
Blue Ocean change strategy
March 25, 2009
At a recent meeting of the Atlanta chapter of the Association for Strategic Planning (ASP), I heard a presentation on the basics of Blue Ocean Strategy, and thought the concept might be interesting when focused inward on an organization.
The premise behind Blue Ocean Strategy is that your current market of customers is only a subset of the customers who potentially need or want your product or service. The current market is called a Red Ocean because of all the competition tearing each other apart. The Blue Ocean represents all the potential customers who are not currently buying because they don’t have any idea what your product or service does or why they might need it.
The solution presented for engaging the Blue Ocean was through Value Innovation. The simplified method included finding the answers to these questions:
- What causes people not to buy this product?
- What can we do to overcome it? (What can we reduce, raise, eliminate or create?)
When you look at your organizational change initiative, you might see a similar pattern. There is a subset of the organization who “gets it,” pays attention, and is involved in making progress. And then there is everyone else, who is not buying what you’re selling. Not only that, but it’s not even on their radar.
Inquiry: What causes people to not to “buy” your change?
There are a number of other tools in the Blue Ocean Strategy framework that might be helpful to expand your thinking along these lines. Visit the official Blue Ocean Strategy site for some useful diagrams and more detailed concepts.
Podcast #3: The indispensible change agent
March 10, 2009
The Enclaria podcast series features interviews with change agents. Hear how others overcome obstacles while they pass along lessons learned from their organizational change experiences.
As the Senior Manager of Strategy Management Performance Excellence in a large IT department within a much larger corporation, Pamela Santiago has built a team that has become a center of excellence in change management and strategy execution within the larger organization. Her story also shows how change can start within a support unit as a proving ground, then branch out into the rest of the company. Listen for insights on what makes a successful change agent and change management team.
Podcast #2: The 100 Million Dollar Challenge
February 24, 2009
The Enclaria podcast series features interviews with change agents. Hear how others overcome obstacles while they pass along lessons learned from their organizational change experiences.
After 28 years at United Illuminating, an electric utility in Connecticut, Phil Turner retired in January this year as Director of Strategic Planning and Risk Management. As he reflects on his role as a change agent, Phil shares the story of the 100 Million Dollar Challenge, a large scale re-engineering initiative that took place in preparation for deregulation. Listen for insights about restructuring the organization for change, and about the pros and cons of implementing “big change fast.”
Case Study: A Roundabout Path to Increasing Employee Suggestions
July 1, 2008
Many companies try to fill their employee suggestion box. The Jel Sert Company, at the time a 700-employee manufacturing company headquartered in West Chicago, was no different. Over the course of four years, the company tried many initiatives to increase the number of ideas collected from employees, with some success. Read more
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