Change ManagementRelevant and Not-So-Relevant Thoughts on

Organizational Change

Why is Change So Difficult?

Poorly conveyed idea Poor communication Leadership lacks understanding of human behavior/

motivation Great idea, but no resources Great idea and resources, but too many barriers No vision No agreement on vision No support No feedback

Implementation In Medicine

Joan Ash – Studies in Health IT Implementation found the following factors of importance for implementing wide-scale IT projects in hospitals: -Leadership -Post “Go Live” support -Top level commitment -Trust between all disciplines -Linguistics -Feedback -Evaluation for motivation should occur prior to implementation

Change starts with and idea or

idealHow do we best communicate the idea/ideal?

Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations

Rogers EM, Rogers E. Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition. 5th ed. Free Press; 2003.    

4 Elements Needed for an Idea to Diffuse

• Innovation • Channels • Time • Social System

5 Stages of Adoption Process

• Knowledge • Persuasion • Decision • Implementation • Confirmation

5 Factors of an Innovation Influencing Adoption

• Relative Advantage • Compatibility • Complexity/Simplicity • Trialability • Observability

Prochaska’s Stages of Change

• Precontemplation • Contemplation • Preparation • Action • Maintenance • Termination

Change Most Often Begins with an Idea or Ideal

How do you move your idea from concept to reality?

What makes an idea “sticky” or what makes an idea or concept stick in our heads?

We could take a few lessons from advertisements in communicating ideas.

Take a lesson from the advertising agencies

Very Sticky

Don’t you love these guys on billboards all over the country?

Heath Brothers SUCCESs Model

Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotion Stories

For An Idea to Be “Sticky”1. Must be simple 2. Must violate the norm (or simply not be boring) 3. Concrete/Specificity/Tangibility 4. Credibility 5. Evoke Emotion 6. Stories

How can we apply this to change in libraries?

So enough about the idea, what about the change?

Agree or Disagree?1. You are a certain kind of person and there is not really

much that can be done to change that. 2. No matter what kind of person you are, you can always

change substantially. 3. You can do things differently, but the important parts of

who you are really can’t be changed. 4. You can always change basic things about the kind of

person you are.

*Dweck, Carol. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, 2007.

A test to measure willingness to change

Organizational Change Involves 3 Essential

Elements

1. Message must have direction (Appeal to our Rational Nature)

2. Motivation must exist for the change (Emotional Nature) 3. A Path Must be Shaped or Cleared (removal of

barriers)

DirectionFind your positive deviants – Knowledge Management in

practice Clear direction – where are we going and how will we get

there? Goals/outcome must be clear – What is our destination

Motivation for ChangeMust strike emotional chord – find the feeling Change comes in small steps

Even though the outcome is important, change comes in small increments – not overwhelming

Instill the change in the culture People must merge their identity with the change

Remove BarriersMake it easy to change - resources Design for change Habits Disseminate change – make it contagious

What does any of this have to

do with systems or libraries?

Recommended Readings