19827341 leading sustainable organization change

8/9/2019 19827341 Leading Sustainable Organization Change

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Le ad ing S us ta in ab le Or ga niz at io n Ch an ge

In trod ucti on

Most organizations are committed or find they are compelled to improving themselves. New competitors,globalization, economic and market trends, societal changes, and technological advances are among theforces that cause organizations to change and adapt, or face the risk of collapse and failure. Successfulcompanies recognize the need for change is ongoing; relying too heavily on past accomplishments canquickly erode an organizations competitive advantage. Seeing the need for change is easy planning andorchestrating effective organizational change is among the most difficult but important tasks required ofsuccessful leaders today.

The task of changing an organization is complicated and filled with paradox. To change, organizations needto be more agile when much of what they do is designed to reinforce their continuity, stability, or efficiency 1.Productive change, adaptation, and innovation usually requires a lengthy, deliberate process, but mostorganizations assume they have little choice but to do things faster. Shortcuts usually result in wastedeffort, disappointment, and the loss of previously gained advantages 2.

Change initiatives often require additional resources when organizations have most of their time, money,and energy devoted to maintaining ongoing operations 3. New ideas and approaches that make good senseare often not adopted at all or only reluctantly embraced by those who need to implement them. In manycases, change leaders assume the biggest barrier to achieving change is resistant employee attitudes,when re-aligning roles and responsibilities, and underlying organizational structures, systems, and

processes is necessary4

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What We Kn ow Abo ut Succ essf ul Chan geOrganizational change has been studied, researched, and written about since the mid-1950s. A number ofchange models have been proposed, but many have less than more in common in the approaches theyrecommend. Considerable attention has been given to dealing with change-resistant employees. Since thelatter part of the twentieth century, much of the change literature has focused on the need forstrategic

changeand the difference between transformational(radical change aimed at transforming the organization)and incrementalchange (slow, gradual changes that involve fine-tuning the organization).

Change processes and the need for change management vary greatly depending on the size, scope, andcomplexity of the change that is undertaken by an organization. Likewise, the collection of prescriptionsavailable to change leaders differ substantially in their practicality and usefulness. Nonetheless, lookingacross change theories, models, and frameworks; some conclusions can be drawn. We know thatsuccessful change processes must establish several conditionsand include a number of importantelements.


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Successful organization change initiatives must:

Ensure that the organization is well-prepared and ready for change and provide employees with

a compelling reason to do so.

Create the picture of the future that the organization wants. Describe the why, what, and howofthe change in vivid, motivating terms. Often this involves creating a new vision for the organizationthat is reinforced through consistent and credible communication.

Gain support from leaders and involve employees who will be responsible for executing the

change. Organization members must be the key source of energy for the change process. Whenpeople are given a significant role in designing and implementing change, the change is morereadily accepted and resistance to it can be minimized.

Introduce and manage the efforts and initiatives that will move the existing organization to a new,

more effective future state. This is where the rubber meets the road in the change process. Itinvolves designing and experimenting with innovative approaches; and helping employees learn,take risks, and disengage from the past. It often requires a transition structureto support,

coordinate, and manage the set of change activities. Provide resources for sustaining momentum and implementing new ways of doing things; as well

as ways to measure, reinforce, and institutionalize successful change in the organization. Thisrequires evaluation expertise and re-aligning other parts of the organization so the changebecomes embedded in its ongoing operations and in the organizational culture.

A Syn the sis: Th e LSC Mo delTo take advantage of the best that these and other change models have to offer while minimizing thepotential problems adhering too rigidly to any one approach may cause, MDA Leadership has developed theLeading Sustainable Change (LSC) model.

The model is straightforward, comprehensive, and practical. It sequences the key steps in the changeprocess logically, and is consistent with Lewins fundamental organizational change rhythm. It focuses onthe most important steps that change leaders must take, incorporating the most useful activities from avariety of models. It is prescriptive but not rigid. Certain objectives and activities must be accomplishedbefore others for example, a change plan should be well-designed before resources are committed toimplementing it but it allows change leaders and organizations to tailor the approach they take to theircircumstances. It shows that change is a continuous process. As the success of a change initiative isevaluated, the need for additional or different change strategies can be identified and form the basis of anew cycle of planning and implementation actions.

The LSC model includes four major steps or phases: Planning, Engaging Others, Taking Action, and

Sustaining Change. On the surface,this appears to differ somewhat from Lewins basic model. However,Planningand Engagingactivities are meant to correspond to Lewins Unfreezingphase.

Engaging Othersis shown as a set of distinct actions for several reasons. By showing this phaseseparately, it disentangles the work of articulating the need and creating a rationale for the change from thetask of persuading others and enrolling them in the change process. Most importantly, however, it highlightsone of the best supported conclusions from years of research in the social sciences: peoples commitmentto plans and decisions that affect them will be strengthened if they are involved in their design andimplementation. The LSC model calls for active engagement of a broad network of stakeholders once thekey ideas, rationale, and high-level direction for the change has been established.


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Graphically, the LSC model is:

A CT- Establ ish changeimplementat ion teams- Manage the transi t ion- Frequent communicat ion- Generate short- term w ins

ENGAGE-

Establ ish change managementteam- Create a v is ion for th e change- Establ ish sense of urgency

PLAN-

Ident i fy key change need- Secure top managementsuppor t- Bui ld the business c ase forchange

SUSTAIN- Adopt & inst i tu t ional ize changesuccesses- Real ign the org anizationstructure systems, & processes- Plan for cont inuous changemanagement



ENGAGE-


ENGAGE-


PLAN-


PLAN-




Th e Pl ann ing Ph ase. The activities in this phase involve understanding and articulating at least at ahigh level the change that is needed. Thoughtful planning helps organizations gain a clearer picture of

what is needed and what it will take to accomplish what they want. Comprehensive initial planning mustinclude developing the logic and business case for the change, as well as the magnitude of the effort, whowill need to be involved, and the obstacles and objections that will likely be encountered in the changeprocess. The key activities include:

Identifying the change that is needed specifying the discrepancy between the current

and desired state.

Understanding and building the business case for change. Creating the rationale for the

change in terms that are meaningful to and will make a difference in the success of thebusiness.

Securing top management support. Larger organization initiatives rarely succeed without

influential leaders and decision-makers who are on board.

Assessing the organizations readiness and capability for change including understanding the

organizations acceptance or commitment to the need for change, and the resources and skillsrequired to carry out the necessary tasks the change effort will require.

Identifying probable sources of individual and organizational resistance, potential

obstacles, and objections so that the right steps can be put in place early to minimize oravoid them.

Establishing a high-level timeline and milestones that will signal progress and momentum

for the change.


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En gag ing Oth ers. This phase includes the activities that engage the broader group of people who willbe most responsible for ensuring the change is successfully implemented in a more detailed and specific setof preparatory actions. The key activities include establishing a change management team or steeringcommittee of key stakeholders who can provide guidance, make plans and decisions, provide resources,and oversee the change initiative. The change management teams charter should include:

Creating a vision for the change.

Responsibility for communicating the vision and establishing sense of urgency for the

change in the organization.

Developing plans for involving others, communicating about the change, overcoming

anticipated obstacles and resistance, and measuring and evaluating progress.

Taking Ac tion . This phase involves trial, experimentation, and implementation actually doing newthings and determining how they work. The key activities include:

Establishing change teams who are chartered to do things in new ways, for example,

special task forces, committees, or project teams

Provide training, resources, and support as needed.

During this phase, the change management team or steering committee needs to remain especially active.They are responsible for:

Identifying milestones and managing the transition.

Implementing regular, frequent communication.

Identifying, generating, and communicating about progress and short-term wins.

Su stai nin g Ch ang e. In this phase, change leaders need to evaluate the outcomes from their efforts.The results from an evaluation may indicate how proposed changes need to be further modified or adapted,new or additional change initiatives that are needed, and/or it may show that change initiatives have beensuccessful. In this case, the organization needs to take any steps that are required to make the change apermanent part of its ongoing operations, including re-aligning other parts of the organization to ensure thedesired change is fully integrated and supported by the organizations systems and processes. The keyactivities include:

Collecting measures of change progress and successes.

Adopting and institutionalizing change successes.

Realigning the organizations structure, systems, and processes to reinforce changes that

are desired.

Using evaluation results to refine the change process and plan for continuous change

management.

Su mma ryThis overview is meant to be just that only an introduction that sets the stage for deeper thinking, moreextensive discussion, and the careful planning that is required to successfully orchestrate a complicatedchange process. In addition, change leaders need to understand their roles, and in many cases, developexpertise they do not yet have. MDAs Leading Sustainable Change Tool Kitis designed to help change


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leaders meet this challenge and develop their approach to planning, engaging others, taking action, andsustaining the changes their organization requires.

Re fere nce s1 Christopher Worley and Edward Lawler, Designing Organizations That Are Built to Change, SloanManagement Review, Fall, 2006

2 John Kotter, Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review, March-April,1995

3 Thomas Cummings and Christopher Worley, Organization Development and Change, 20054 Michael Beer, Russell Eisenstat, and Bert Spector, Why Change Programs Dont Produce Change,Harvard Business Review, November-December, 1990

5 Kurt Lewin, Field Theory in Social Science, 19516 David Nadler, Champions of Change, 19987 Todd Jick, Managing Change: Cases and Concepts, 20028 John Kotter, Leading Change, 1996

19827341 leading sustainable organization change

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