I recently read somewhere (perhaps on the Internet - everything on the Internet is true, right?) that a group of scientists proved that the universe has been expanding since the moment when the "Big Bang" occurred. Perhaps of even greater interest, the rate at which the universe is expanding has continued to increase as well. In other words, as every second, minute, hour, and day passes, our universe has changed. No second is like any other. We, as it turns out, are undergoing constant, perpetual change!
Change seems to be a four-letter word these days. Why? No one really enjoys change. As one blogger recently put it, "Everyone loves progress - but nobody likes change." We get comfortable with "the way we do things around here." Change elicits feelings of anxiety, discomfort, fear, and maybe even longing for the so-called "good old days." Moreover, I have come across more than a few studies that suggest that change initiatives, especially when "forced" upon an organization (using a "top-down" approach rather than a "bottom-up" approach) lead to perceptions of a loss of autonomy or control and so-called "learned helplessness". But make no mistake about it, change is a fact of life. One of the most important skills that a leader can have is to be an effective manager or facilitator of change.
Daniel Markovitz wrote on the Harvard Business Review blog that one of the ways that leaders can successfully manage change is to pose the problem to the members of the organization and have them design the change. I completely agree! In my experience, some of the most successful and transformational change initiatives that I have been involved with were led from the "bottom-up" (or at least were perceived in that manner). How do you do that? I think John Kotter's 8-step change model is a great place to start:
1. Create a sense of urgency
2. Build a guiding coalition
3. Form a strategic vision and initiatives
4. Enlist a volunteer army
5. Enable action by removing barriers
6. Generate short-term wins
7. Sustain acceleration
8. Institute change
There are a number of other change management models - in many ways, they are all very similar and have been successfully applied in a variety of settings. My two cents - first, any change initiative should be tied back to the organization's mission, vision, and core values. If it's not a priority for the leadership in the organization, it certainly won't be a priority for the rest of the organization (and will undoubtedly fail). Second, change initiatives, whenever possible, should be led in a "bottom-up" as opposed to a "top-down" fashion. Changes that are "forced" by leadership are less likely to be successful, and even when they do succeed, no one feels good about it. Third, don't ever underestimate the power of what Kotter calls "short-term wins." Even small successes can lead to big successes. Celebrate the "small wins", learn from them, and turn them into even bigger ones. Fourth, if leaders want a change initiative to be successful, they have to invest the time, energy, and resources so that it will be successful. Again, if leaders don't think the change initiative is important enough to warrant their time or resources, the rest of the organization will see right through that. Finally, make the changes stick. There is probably a time at which point the team can step away and the change has become part of the culture of an organization. However, until that time is reached (and it is difficult to say when that occurs, unfortunately), individuals will be likely to revert back to the "old way" of doing things. Stay vigilant!
No comments:
Post a Comment