Figure 2 Change-Recipient Readiness Approach

The Paradox of Change Management

Save time and Resources: Build Readiness

(excerpt from Launch Lead Live: The Executive’s Guide to Preventing Resistance and Succeeding with Organizational Change)

By: Dr. Dawn-Marie Turner

Time is an issue in every organization. Initially, if you are used to working from a resistance perspective, it can feel like it takes longer to get people ready. It doesn’t. Consider the time and energy you must spend trying to enforce compliance when you use the traditional “resistance” approach.

By focusing on building readiness instead of managing resistance, and emphasizing the needs of the change-recipients, you can actually make better use of your time and resources. You can also get a greater return on your investment.

The traditional approach to organizational change (figure 1) looks to move quickly to training and implementation.

Figure 1 Common Approach to Organizational Change
Turner Change Management Inc.

It tries to minimize the amount of time spent in the early period; the majority of the effort is at the back end of the change. This approach gives the appearance of saving time, but it top loads issues so that they emerge right around the time of implementation– when time and resources are at a premium.

You expend more energy and resources, but the return on that energy decreases as people move through the Whitespace. It’s like heating your house in the winter while leaving the all the windows open.

This kind of back-end approach forces you to manage the resistance created when the change-recipients are pushed into taking action before they are ready. The approach gives the perception of speed, while actually taking more time. I call this the paradox of change management.

Figure 2 Change-Recipient Readiness Approach

Figure 2 Change-Recipient Readiness Approach

Building readiness shifts the effort to the front end of the Event. Time is allocated to ensure the change-recipients can internalize the need, raise perceived capability, prepare, and support people through the transition. The change is built on a stable foundation. This results in a more sustainable change (Figure 2).

Launch Lead Live: The Executive’s Guide to Preventing Resistance and Succeeding with Organizational Change p. 88-90

 

 

3 Necessary Things Needed to Build a Powerful Change Toolkit

The value of any toolkit isn’t in the tools themselves—it’s in the knowledge and judgment of the person using them. That idea came to mind as I flipped through our new The Readiness Mindset® workbook. It’s filled with fresh insights, tools, and techniques designed to support healthy and sustainable organizational change. I’m excited to put it into the hands of our clients as we explore these approaches together. One question we’re often asked is: Why can’t the workbook be purchased on its own? The answer is simple. A toolkit, by itself, is not enough to help you develop and adopt a Readiness Mindset. In fact, relying too heavily on tools alone can introduce real risks to your change efforts. Let’s explore those risks, and more importantly, what you need to build an effective organizational change toolkit.

Make the Change Journey Comfortable

A post I shared on LinkedIn about how you can't manage someone's change journey - but you can make that journey as comfortable as possible- led to an interesting comment and an important question. Why do we have to make the journey as comfortable as possible? Why does change need to be comfortable for everyone? After all, growth happens when we are outside our comfort zone. It's also where resilience can develop.  The person commenting gave examples like running marathons, climbing mountains, or lifting heavy weights. These are all uncomfortable, yet worthwhile. It's a fair challenge, and one I hear often from clients. The idea of "comfortable change" can feel contradictory. But understanding what that actually means is essential to creating lasting change.

Steady State: The Secret to Ensuring Change Sticks

Every day, we engage in activities and behaviours we are not consciously choosing. For example, your morning routine? Morning routines like getting out of bed, getting dressed, or brushing your teeth happen almost automatically. You might even order a latte and a cookie without realizing you're not hungry. Around 80% of our behaviour is driven by implicit memory, operating outside conscious awareness. That's why you can implement a change in your organization, train people on a new activity or behaviour, and not see the expected results. You think it's resistance. It's not. The real issue lies in a critical, often-overlooked phase of the change process that happens after implementation: steady state.
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