Anticipating and Managing Change

transcript

Tathagat Varmahttp://managewell.net

2http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/pc/changing-pace.html

Pace of change is only getting …faster!!!

Even Crayola crayons are not immune to change!

3http://www.vizworld.com/2010/01/evolution-crayola-crayon-palette/

Change is…well…NORMAL!!!

No power...how to take shower?

Flat tyre...how to go office?

New technology…

New customer…

New manager…

New project…

New job…

New agile methodology…well…

If Change is Normal, then what is the Problem?

People resist

change!5

So, why do people resist changes?

Fear Uncertainty Doubt

Genuine concerns

Comfort Zone

Indictment of the

Past Practices

Old Habits

Homeostasis

• The tendency of most complex systems to reach a state of equilibrium. The sense of balance that comes from operating in a stable environment is seductive. It masquerades as comfort. But it also leads to inertia – a powerful and limiting force.

• Even the most talented and well-intended individuals, if they are enveloped by the contentment of the status quo, don’t generally recognize their condition – or the ensuing risks that stagnation presented to their businesses. Management scholars and consultants label the phenomenon “resistance to change”…

…as a result, what do people do?

Disagree Procrastinate Pushback Deny

Reject Refuse Resist Sabotage

But, what do we do instead?

So, how to bring about…

Let’s back up a bit…

So, what is change?

12http://www.visualthesaurus.com/app/view

The Myths around Change

Change is risky

Change is an event

Change is absolute

Change is disruptive Change

is end of life

Change is constrain

Change slows things down

Change can’t be predicte

Change is an option

Change is an

aberration

Change is a threat

Change is

costly

The Reality…

Change protects

usChange is the new

normalChange makes

us betterChange creates options

Change enables

Change is a

process

Change is

progress

Change is

creative

Change is

relative

Change is rebirth

Change is safe

Change in quotes

• We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance – Harrison Ford

• If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less – General Eric Shinseki

• Change brings opportunity – Nido Qubein

• It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory – W Edwards Deming

• The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists – Japanese Proverb

Is Change good?

“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I am frightened of the old ones”.

- John Cage, American Composer

Is Change bad?

Over the coming decades, an accelerating pace of change will test the resilience of every society, organization and individual. Luckily, perturbations create opportunities as well as challenges. But the balance of promise and peril confronting any organization will depend on its capacity for adaption. Hence the most important question for any company is this: Are we changing as fast as the world around us?

Gary Hamel, the Future of Management

Why change matters?

I'm very interested in the future because I plan to spend the rest of my life there.

— Robert Wood Johnson,

Co-founder, J&J

Change Models

• Satir Change Model

• Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle

• Transitions

• Lewin Force-Field Analysis

• Prosci ADKAR Change Model

• Situational Leadership

• Kotter 8-step Model

Satir Change Model

How to help during each stage

Stage Description How to help

1 Late Status Quo

Encourage people to seek improvement information and concepts from outside the group

2 Resistance Help people to open up, become more aware, and overcome the reaction to deny, avoid or blame

3 Chaos Help build a safe environment that enables people to focus on their feelings, acknowledge their fear, and use their support systems. Help management avoid any attempt to short circuit this stage with magical solutions

4 Integration Offer reassurance and help finding new methods for coping with difficulties

5 New Status Quo

Help people feel safe so that they can practice

Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle

Shock Stage*:

• Initial paralysis at hearing the bad news.

Denial Stage

• Trying to avoid the inevitable.

Anger Stage

• Frustrated outpouring of bottled-up emotion

Bargaining Stage

• Seeking in vain for a way out.

Depression Stage

• Final realization of the inevitable.

Testing Stage*

• Seeking realistic solutions.

Acceptance Stage

• Finally finding the way forward

Transitions

Lewin Force-field Analysis

“Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze”

ADKAR Model

• ADKAR Change Management Model proposed by Jeff Hiatt and Timothy J. Creasey in “The Perfect Change”

• It characterizes the process for individual change in 5 key steps:

• Awareness of the need to change

• Desire to participate and support the change

• Knowledge about how to change

• Ability to implement new skills and behavior

• Reinforcements to keep the change in place

Individual Change Process

• The time it takes for each individual to go through similar change could be different

• Hence, change management models can’t treat the organization as a homogeneous mass of people going through the change process at the same time

Awareness

Desire Knowledge Ability Reinforcement

Organizational Change Process

• In a large organization, people might not find out about change at the same time!

Successful Change

• Change happens on two dimensions: business and people

• Business Dimension:

• Business need or opportunity is identified

• Project is defined (scope and objectives)

• Business solution is designed (new processes, systems and org structure)

• New processes and systems are developed

• Solution is implemented into the organization

• Successful change happens when both happen simultaneously

Situational Leadership Model

Kotter’s Eight Step Process

Establishing a sense of Urgency

Creating the Guiding Coalition

Developing a Change Vision

Communicating the Vision for

Buy-In

Empowering Broad-based

Action

Generating Short-term

Never Letting Up

Incorporating Changes into

Culture

Can we anticipate or predict Change?

Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.

– Niels Bohr, Physicist

Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.

– Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher

Who Moved My Cheese?

Noticing Small Changes Early Helps You Adapt To The Bigger Changes That Are Yet To Come.

Who Moved My Cheese?

Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old.

Our Iceberg Is Melting

“…Icebergs are not like ice cubes. The bergs can have cracks inside called canals. The canals can lead to large air bubbles called caves. If the ice melts sufficiently, cracks can be exposed to water, which would then pour into the canals and caves.

During a cold winter, the narrow canals filled with water can freeze quickly, trapping water inside the caves. But as the temperature goes lower and lower, the water in the caves will also freeze. Because a freezing liquid dramatically expans in volume, an iceberg could be broken into pieces.

After a few minutes, Alice began to see why Fred was so deeply concerned. The magnitude of the problem could be…?”

Indicators of impending change

• Merger, Acquisition or Divestiture

• New Product, Service or Market

• New Technology

• New Legislation

• New Leader

So, what to do when I don’t know what lies ahead?

change is a contant...and unstoppable

ignore at your peril

get up, smell, listen, read, network, talk, observe, ask

prepare for change…be curious

it can be done!

one more thing...

References

• 5 Reasons people resist change – Julie Rains

• Satir Change Model

• The Satir Change Model – Steven Smith

• The 8-step Process for Leading Change – John Kotter

• Transitions: Managing People and Organizational Change – Dai Williams

Connect

Twitter: @tathagatvarma

Blog: http://managewell.net

Email: tathagat.varma@gmail.com

Presentations: http://slideshare.net/managewell