Enable change by including PEOPLE

In today’s world, the new constant in our personal, social and work lives is ‘change’.  We have seen our parents, friends and peers go through major restructures, change in work practices, emerging and dying industries and the introduction of more flexibility and instability in our work and personal lives.  Significant change in technology, economics, generational preferences, the way we do business and globalisation dynamics means that we need to think, act and do differently to ride the change wave.  That means we need to understand the change benefits, their implications, embrace them and go with the flow rather than resist change.

The current buzz words in our world are all about how we can adapt without resistance and despair.  Terms like how to be ‘agile’, ‘resilient’, ‘inspired’, ‘purposeful’, 'accepting and adapting to change' and yet 'keeping it simple in a world of complexity'. These now form the current business mantra!  Easier said than done. 

Did you know that nearly two-thirds of the following major changes in organizations fail? 

• re-engineering project success 

• mergers covering their costs

• quality improvements worth the effort; and 

• major software applications worth the cost.  

Fortune 500 executives recently said that resistance was the primary reason changes failed. 

We are all human and the majority of us say we can deal with change until it actually occurs.  The thought of change can, for some, be a ‘God send’ and for others it can lead to ‘dread, despair, denial’ and 'resistance'.  It depends on our past experiences and our innate responses of either fight or flight as well as how well we have been supported through the change in the past.  

Rick Maurer, a US based and established global leading change expert in his recent book “Beyond the wall of resistance” outlines the main reasons for people’s resistance to change at 3 levels. These being: 

Level 1: People don’t get it (Intellectual)      
Level 2: People don’t like it (Emotional)

Level 3: People don’t like you (Personal)  

The key for Change Agents is to engage all stakeholders that will be instrumental to make the successful change. They need to be able to understand the need, the sense of urgency, their part in the process and to feel this need with their hearts.  So, no matter what the change program is, it needs to really consider the Major Project plan and management approach for a success outcome. The change project leader and team will need to have engaged, focused and supportive people as part of its core . Without the people’s hearts, minds and hands being engaged to enable change, forget even doing the change.

As an experienced auditor, chief risk officer, project governance expert and board member, I have always said that the focus of a change program needs to be about systems, process and please don't forget the PEOPLE:

1. Proper planning and project management disciplines - in terms of governance, project scope approach and key challenges to be addressed leads to successful project performance; and
2. PEOPLE (within your organisation and also external stakeholders and customers / clients) will make or break an organisation. What is needed is involvement in terms of communication, understanding, engagement, support, training and successful change enablement.

The fundamental shift in change models that I have observed over the past 5 years is the focus on bringing along people and treat them as part of the solution. Instead of the process driving the solution without the people being engaged, supported and united.

The culture drive to clearly communicate to all key stakeholders: the why, what and how, by providing clarity, inspiration and motivation is now ‘King’. In relation to PEOPLE, current leading change experts recognise the importance of Change Agent skills encompassing leading and motivating people, communicating and engaging key stakeholder hearts, minds and hands on the reason for the change and their contribution. 

Of course there are processes that we can utilise to strategise, plan, monitor progress and support change. We just need to field an effective change management approach (eg. Prof John Kotter’s 8 step leading change model and Prosci’s Enterprise Change Management Model) and Project governance and management model (eg Prince2 / PMBok) tailored for your organisation's needs.  

Remember PEOPLE will make or break the difference.  Engage them to transform your organisation and deliver your project outcomes!

Why Change for Change's sake? A Reflection

Leadership focus should only be on change that will capitalise on the big benefit opportunities and/or ensure preparedness for catastrophic situations impacting on the organisation's reputation.

Executive leaders of organisations need to know the difference between a change for a big or small benefit as well a change that will have a big or small cost to the organisation and its stakeholders. Frequent or too much change that is incremental, insipid and insignificant can mean that an organisation’s employees and stakeholders may question whether it is really worth all the effort for little benefit. 

Of course, it all depends on the source, the sense of urgency and need for the change, rather than ‘change for change’s sake’. Why I am raising this premise is because recently I have observed more frequent so called ‘change’ / ‘transformational change’ events than in the past which has stretched resources and not delivered the significant benefits to all key stakeholders. Some changes are definitely transformational and really needed, other changes are not.  The types of ‘change’ can range from the very big and important to the very small for little benefit. 

It is important for executive leaders of organisations to review and consider what the change benefit is and whether it is worth the effort. Is it for the important and high benefit reasons (survival or obtain a great opportunity) or insignificant ego driven or not appropriately risk analysed (change for change’s sake) that will cause more disruption than a benefit?

Examples of ‘big’ benefit changes:

• Capitalise on a big opportunity and/or minimise a potential catastrophic risk scenario (after big picture scanning and risk analysis)

• Mergers and acquisitions in an organisation and industry (where there are win-win and major growth opportunities or survival for all key stakeholders)
  
  
• Economic drivers (for survival and maintain / increase its competitive edge in the market – it may involve leaner management, re-prioritising, cutting out of a declining industry, restructuring, cost cutting and outsourcing)
  
  
• New Leadership / CEO (fixing the messes of the past that is really needed for significant improvement)

Examples of  ‘small’ benefit changes:

• Economic drivers (as an excuse for tinkering with processes, restructuring and downsizing) 
  
  
• Politically driven change (as in private or public sector reshuffled structures eg. – centralised vs decentralised, re-sizing, reshuffling portfolios) 

• New Chief Executive (creating restructures to make their mark that will not be a big benefit to organisation.)

When should we make the Change?

'Change for change’s sake' for little benefit may cause heightened disruption to existing services and ‘change fatigue’ across management and employees. On the other hand, calling resources effectively to enable big benefit change can create greater efficiency and opportunity actualisation. 

When do you call it a change and transformation improvement program and when don’t you?  Some change may seem like a great idea but really was ill conceived and may be in the small benefits bucket. Far worse is when the organisation's stakeholders and people do not see or feel the need for change, have not had an effective history for successful change enablement and/or does not have the right supportive leadership and management culture to support, drive and enable the change.  

So why bother? I liken it to heightening an issue as a crisis and using crisis management techniques. However, the fact is, it is only a minor matter that didn’t need all the hype, response and high impact resources that provides detrimental rather than beneficial change. On the other hand, I see organisations that dismiss a perfectly golden ‘carpe diem’ opportunity or 'sweep under the carpet' a looming potential catastrophic situation because they are too busy focusing on lower order / small things. Perhaps I have seen this all too often as an overseer Board and Audit and Risk Management Committee member and experienced past Auditor.

Let’s focus on the big Change that will really make the difference and matter!

My view is that significant and enforced change (ie, means survival or capitalising on a big opportunity for the company and industry) requires a radical change management effectiveness technique. There is an urgency and a compelling reason to keep afloat and it needs to be done.

I have just been reading the more recent "Leading Change" book sequel “Accelerate”  by John P Kotter, an Emeritus Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School and ‘Leading Change’ guru. The interesting premise that Kotter highlights is that, in today's world, change is required on a faster time scale due to increasing volatility and therefore requires an agile and new network framework (systems, structures and cultures) in addition to the tried and proven traditional change management approaches to guide successful change. Kotter reinforces that enabling fast ‘change is premised on the fact that it is generally because of a matter of urgency, a big opportunity or to avert a catastrophic impact on the organisation’.

So, why am I highlighting this?

When we intend to marshal the whole organisation and our stakeholders to buy in and support ‘the change’ it better be worth the effort.  Once bitten twice shy... or it could be case of  'Peter crying wolf' if it wasn't a change that was urgently needed after all. So, when you do call people and stakeholders to action for a major change that is worth the effort, the people you need to volunteer, the sponsors and buy in from the people for the change may not really be there to support the change when needed!

Let’s reflect and ask ourselves

Are you constantly making small, insipid changes that really don’t make a real positive improvement to your organisation, systems, practices and organisation's outcomes? Do your management and employees feel that they are spinning wheels, going nowhere fast and for little benefit? 

If so, this only creates people fatigue, disruption and little employee / stakeholder buy in. This in turn will make it difficult to marshal everyone when a much needed major change in the future is required. So, think first before jumping into enforcing change that could have more cost than benefit.

My next blog will be on how ‘high benefit' change can be supported.