Culture..a driving force to a better situation

In "Organizational Culture and Leadership', Edgar H Shein discusses the clearly obvious fact that culture change is rarely the primary change goal...the reason being that culture normally changes for a reason...a driving force to create a better situation, largely based on the current undesired situation.


One problem with culture change is that the organisation is itself a result of the many sub cultures in departments and the further micro cultures of the individuals. To change a corporate culture is in essence a very complex and lengthy process, despite the fact that the human brain has the acute ability to change at the flick of a switch. Habit's, laziness and fear become the treacle that change has to move through as we agonisingly attempt to change culture. I can loose weight tomorrow by eating less and exercising... its simple, uncomplicated and logical even. But easy...no way? 


Who is it that actually defines the culture? Is it designed, copied or does it evolve? Perhaps all of these. Organisations decide that they need to change and design a culture that fits their image. Often this is copied from observation of what works best in other organisations. But over time the culture is challenged, twisted and drained as senior executives come and go, sub-cultures dominate enterprise cultures and critically, people begin to object to a corporate culture that has been enforced onto them...challenging their personal sovereignty.


Forcing people to unlearn so that there is space for the new to enter is somewhat akin to asking a bullet to stop and go back the way it came. Anything that challenges our personal identity is a threat, because we think we know what is best for us...but it is worse when we are faced with the fact that other people think they know what is best for us. Enter "Resistance"!


However, not all change should be taken so personally. Every now and again some change theory needs a bit of a wack on the head, so I am challenging the WIIFM theory of "What's in it for me? Why does there have to be something in it for me every time there is a change? Why is it that I behave so negatively towards the company that is rewarding me with a wage in exchange for my skills? Perhaps we should stop complaining about change, create positive conversations and focus on the fact that sometimes...just sometimes....we have to embrace change because of WIIFTC...in other words "Whats In It For The Company!"


You see, as a change practitioner part of my role is to tenderly support people as they move from what is, to what will be. But I want to do this with trust and transparency. So I'll tell you exactly how it is...listen to your points of view...work with you to incorporate your views where possible...and then support you as we move together through the transformation.  But I won't bring a box of tissues and spend my time walking on eggshells. Change Management .... nay Change LEADERSHIP, is about fronting up, handling the pain, turning it into joy and reinforcing the transformation with passion.


So culture change does have a driving force. That driving force is to shake us out of the present so that we don't stagnate. To provoke the status quo so that we don't grind to a halt and to ensure that we maximise the wonderful gifts that we have as human beings by not falling into negative habits that only serve to hinder our personal and professional progress.
www.thechangesamurai.com

The Art of Social Infection

Dr Herrero's new book is entitled Homo Imitans, the art of social infection. Viral Change^TM in action.
In his new book, Dr Herrero addresses Viral Change^TM in action, breaking it down in several sections to show that:

•  the more primal 'Homo Imitans' is still a powerful force behind the more accepted     'Homo Sapiens'
•   we are surrounded by examples of behavioural and social infections
•  the confusion between the world of communications and the world of behaviours is largely  the cause of the high failure rate of so-called 'change management programmes'

 "Understanding how social, behavioural infection works is the basis for   the orchestration of any 'epidemic of success', be it a successful change inside a firm or a counter-social epidemic to tackle negative socio-macro phenomena". 

http://thechangesamurai.blogspot.com/

Communication as a Social Construction

Communication is very important in the change cycle, but it often takes on generic processes that fail to deliver the message with the problem compounded through a lack of engagement that does not build a desire to support the change.

As technology overpowers natural communication channels and weakens our skills, it is no wonder that engagement has not become any easier with stakeholders. The tribal communication methods of dialogue and conversation have been misplaced and in some regards lost. History and record were once only defined through stories passed down from generation to generation. It was this skill to create dialogue that forms the foundations of our communities because we not only converse, but most important of all, we listen and we understand.

Once again a simple process has been taken and manipulated creating communication models that in themselves are difficult to communicate, less understand. Fortunately, pioneers like Ken and Mary Gergen of the Taos Institute are making communication easier through social construction. Social construction is a way of looking at how people build a common understanding and negotiate their way into the future.

So keep communication simple and focus on the five core principles:

1. The ways we come to understand the world and ourselves are created in relationships.

2. We do not all interpret the world in the same way.

3. Our shared interpretations of the world survive only if they are useful to us as individuals.

4. Our understandings influence the ways we behave and possibilities for our future.

5. reflection on our assumptions - what we take for granted - is vital to improving performance.

I a nutshell we just need to talk to each other and listen to each other much more than we do now.

http://thechangesamurai.blogspot.com/

Re-invent

A few days ago Leandro Herrero gave a presentation to 250 people at a pharmaceutical industry event. The presentation was titled 'Re-invent'. The key message was that most of the functions inside corporations are not needed, but their functionalities are! Here are some interesting comments on change that Dr Herrero presented.

* Insanity is to do the same old thing the same way and expect different results.

* We need to stop admiring our problems.

* Best practice and management toolkits as we know them are out of date.

* For example we are taught that the management of change leads us to a stable destination...the language of closure. However, real change creates permanent instability, a beta state, a concept of being unfinished.

* We need to move from Team-Work to Net-Work; from Analytical Skills to Synthesis Skills; and from Best Practices to Disruption.

* "The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get the old ones out"...Dee Hock.

* There is no change if there is no behavioural change.

* Change behaviours get culture.

* A small number of people in the organisation have the power and influence to make a big impact.

 http://thechangesamurai.blogspot.com/

Stakeholder Management and Planning - Project Management Tools from MindTools.com

Stakeholder Management and Planning - Project Management Tools from MindTools.com
"Stakeholder management is critical to the success of every project in every organization I have ever worked with. By engaging the right people in the right way in your project, you can make a big difference to its success... and to your career."

http://thechangesamurai.blogspot.com/

RAPID-Change!

Often when talking to a client sponsor they will say that they want change and they want it quickly. Time is money and the faster the implementation the sooner the benefit is achieved. The client could even suggest that the change should be quick in any case if the consulting team are working efficiently.

This may well be true, but there is also a need in some instances for focused  RAPID-Change. This model follows the disciplines and theories of the full change framework, but cuts to the heart of the matter to create a fast path implementation. Projects that will benefit from this rapid approach include:

• In progress projects that have lost direction and /or time
• Projects that are required in a limited timescale with fixed deadlines or urgent situations
• Projects that require energizing
• Projects undergoing crisis or costs issues etc
• Or simply projects that thought that they could get away without change management and half way through realise their mistake!

RAPID-Change! in short

Rise to the challenge.

Accelerate engagement channels.

Promote realistic expectations.

Implement through focused objectives.

Do it - create strategies to make it happen. Focus on the solution not the problem!

In addition follow this manifesto for RAPID-Change! It is the Freiberg BOOM! for blowing the doors off business-as-usual.

1. Be a player...become involved.
2. Be accountable...become part of something.
3. Choose to serve...share the gifts you have.
4. Focus forward...be part of the solution.
5. Build reputation...make your work your signature.
6. Get it done...turn problems into opportunities.
7. Risk more...maximise your capabilities.

http://thechangesamurai.blogspot.com/

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Organisational Design Quick Tip!

Part of the change managers portfolio can be the organisational redesign of departments as a result of the new processes and systems being introduced. This can be a huge undertaking although the return on investment in doing this right can be significant for large corporations. But what if you need to prove a headcount reduction as part of the benefits the project is delivering and you are working on a smaller project and the budget doesn't stretch to detailed mapping of current and then new processes in order to identify such attributes as volumes, time to complete and costs for each activity. 

Well here is a quick method to validate your FTE (Full Time Equivalent) reduction. Just remember this is a method for indicative value only.

Simply produce a resource matrix with each employee (or role)  in the left hand column.
1. In the right hand columns (Maximum of 5) enter what core activities each person currently performs? Use the 80/20 rule. The 20% of activity that produces 80% of the outputs.
2. Record how long each activity takes to complete? This can be expressed as a percentage of the total work hours in the day. Say David spends 2 hours of every 8 hour work day (10 hours of a 40 hour week) entering data into a system then this takes 25% of his time each day / week.
3. Cross through what will be eliminated as a result of the new system?
4. What will be reduced and record by how much?
5. What new additional activities may be required?
6. Redraw the matrix less the eliminated and reduced tasks plus the new.
7. This will provide a high level view of what FTE is required and the basis for redesigning the department. Align this with the original matrix and the difference will be the gross saving...or benefit / FTE reduction.

http://thechangesamurai.blogspot.com/

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Put your foot on the transformation pedal!

Okay.. you want change, you want transformation? Well take your foot off these change brakes, put it on the accelerator and push down hard! Robert Miles who is President of Corporate Transformation Resources based in Charlottesville, Virginia has identified six mistakes that can slow down and ultimately derail an attempt to change. 
Brake #1 Cautious Management Culture
Ensure all executives confront reality and agree on ground rules for working together.
Brake #2 Business As Usual Processes
Don't let business as usual operations get in the way of new processes.
Brake #3 Initiate Gridlock
In other words manage the portfolio of work that funnels into the programme management office.
Brake #4 Recalcitrant executives
Don't let fear be the reason executives undermine the change effort.
Brake #5 Disengaged employees
Positive sponsorship creates a positive message that should / must cascade down through and across the organisation.
Brake #6 Loss of focus
Maintain Awareness, create Desire. Don't move to the flavour of the month. Reinforce the need to change. Don't let excitement wear off!
If team members feel they don't have quite enough time, you probably have the pacing about right.

http://thechangesamurai.blogspot.com/

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Organisations are complex...

Organisations are complex social systems and that change is nothing which can be managed in a linear way. The need for change has never been bigger but change management as a discipline has never been more challenged.

What we change practitioners usually do is that we select one or a couple of the manyfold change models that we take as a foundation for our consulting work. It might be based on the work of Kotter, or Senge, or Scharmer, or Cooperrider but eventually we all make choices on how to approach our task. Then, when it comes to implementation, we open our toolbox.

The tricky thing is that the choice of the change models, and the toolbox, has an influence on how we build our assumptions about the organizational change issue. We see what we want to see, and we cannot be bias free. If 60-80% of all change projects fail - could that be one of the reasons?

Dr Helmut Volkmann and his colleague Vesa Purokuru have been thinking of how to build a meta model that helps organisations to construct their own change model and select freely the tools that go along. The result of their quest is the Change Journey (http://www.changejourney.org) , and the tool for designing the specific change model is the Change Journey Map.

The Journey Map is the tool for facilitating a team dialogue on how to create a design for the Change Journey, unique for each organisation. The Map which is based on laws of complexity has 23+ places which symbolize different aspects of change that teams and organisations might need to consider during their journey. For example, some organisations might believe that they have to focus on creating sustainable actions first. Others might want to start with creating trust in teams. Others, in turn, might want to revisit their goal of the change. Only people involved in the change process can answer the question "Where to go next?". This simple question reveals the start of the journey. Once the first steps are defined, change leaders can bring in all their tools to master the specific part of the journey. The Change Journey is neutral when it comes to application of other change methodologies and frameworks. The Map which can be reproduced in different sizes according to your needs comes along with a set of cards which offer questions for deeper exploration of the places.

Read more about the Change Journey at http://www.changejourney.org, or watch their slideshow at http://www.slideshare.net/hnauheimer/change-journey-background-and-intro.

Consider resistance to...

Consider resistance to change as a positive. When you engage with resistance to change, you receive valuable feedback that triggers a personal review process. Respect the feedback - it's the silence that kills progress!

Practitioners' Masterclass

Watch this space! It's not published yet, but I'm reliably informed by the author that the final version is almost complete. I was privileged to have an advance copy of Stephen Warrilow's new ebook to review... 'Practitioners' Masterclass', subtitled 'Leading your people through change, putting it all together and managing the whole messy business'.

In the book Stephen introduces his EEMAP processã that combines Kotter, MSP and ADKAR. More later...!

"This will hurt me, more than it will hurt you"...so said the reviewer!

The many skills of an organisational change practitioner include the ability to write a portfolio of documents from change plans to impact assessments. While some of these are working documents many are strategic and more often than not require stakeholder 'buy-in' as part of the engagement process.

Most often this documentation is presented after many hours of research and discovery sessions with stakeholders and other interested parties to the change. The total number of pages or 'weight' of the documents, often don't visually represent the total effort put into the task, as much information is disregarded or at least used as reference points for interventions later in the change project.

As a note here, I have for some time deliberately watered down all documents that I present in order to allow the reader to digest the information and understand the key message in the shortest time. I gave up producing weighty documents long ago and for my sins prefer, where possible, to use a PowerPoint document that delivers a concise and clear message.

However, I digress. The object of this article is to give some perspective to those of us who hold our breathe in trepidation as we await the return of our first draft with its caustic comments and editorial ripping. The document, that version 0.1 that we loved and cherished returns unrecognisable, leaving us feeling drained, with a diminished enthusiasm.

The first thing to say is that most often there is no right or wrong and the majority of reviewed documents are critiqued for their style rather than their content. As we all see different shades of a colour and interpret stories differently, so we read formal documents with varying viewpoints.

At the end of the day the World has not got as far as it has through agreement. All progress is actually the result of conflict and commitment. In order to improve we must see something different and challenge the process. In challenging, we work towards a new agreement and further progress, better than we imagined.

So if you are in the process of awaiting the return of your beautifully crafted document, do not fear the result. Work together with your sponsor to define the best strategy based on your original thoughts and their new contribution.