Is your organization change cynical or change-innovative?

Change-Innovative or Change Cynical?

In my book “Launch Lead Live: The Executive’s Guide to Preventing Resistance and Succeeding with Organizational Change,” I explore two types of organizations when it comes to change.  The first type of organization is the change-innovative and the second is cynical.

The difference between the change-innovative and the cynical organization

There are significant differences between the change-innovative and the cynical organization. One very important difference is the employees’ view of change. Employees of a change-innovative organization don’t feel a loss of control, nor are they stressed or overwhelmed by change.[1] They are able to move easily through a change with minimal disruption to their daily operation.

Employees of a cynical organization struggle with change. Their focus is on maintaining the current state. Leaders of a cynical organization experience high levels of negativity and skepticism when change is announced.

Another difference between the two types of organizations is their capacity for change. Organizational change capacity is your organization’s ability to implement a single change while maintaining your daily operation and not compromising future change processes.[2] It is critical for successful and sustainable change.

Unlike the change-innovative organization, which has a high level of change capacity, the cynical organization’s change capacity is low. A low level of change capacity creates two problems for the organization. First, the current change being implemented is unlikely to succeed. Second, organizations with low levels of change capacity experience greater disruption to their operation during change. The end result–their ability to implement future changes successfully is reduced.

Every change you implement needs to set your organization up to be successful for the next change. Organizations with high levels of change capacity become stronger, more competitive, and productive with each change they make. Conversely, organizations with low levels of change capacity become weaker, less productive, and employees view each new change with skepticism.

If you’re thinking your organization is more cynical than change-innovative, don’t despair. You can overcome your organization’s negative response to change and create a change-ready organization.

Three things you can do to build a change-innovative organization

Building a change-ready organization takes time. You won’t build a change-innovative organization with one change initiative, but it does start with one change, regardless of its size. Here are three things that can help your organization to become a change-innovative organization:

1. Stop managing resistance and start building people readiness

Readiness is more than just the absence of resistance. “People readiness is the willingness, and the ability of a person to engage in the activities and behaviours necessary for the change to be implemented.”[3] Building readiness requires more of you as a leader, than simply managing resistance. However, it will provide a much greater return on your investment than managing resistance.

2. Adopt a change-recipient centric approach to organizational change

Taking a change-recipient centric approach means that instead of the people affected by the change being passive recipients of the event, they become active participants in creating the desired outcome. Research has demonstrated that although this approach is the least used, it is the most effective.[4]

3. Ensure you have allocated enough time for both dimensions of your change.

Two different but related dimensions define every change, the Event and the Whitespace. If you picture change as an iceberg the Event is the portion of the iceberg above the waterline. The Whitespace is the portion below the waterline.

Similar to an iceberg, the Whitespace of change is  bigger, more complex, and takes longer than the Event. However, like the ship’s captain, your success depends on your ability to understand, and navigate its complexity. One of the first things to do when planning for change is to assess the time needed for people to move through the Whitespace. Then ensure you have the activities needed to support their journey.

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1. Bennebroek Gravenhorst, K. M., Werkman, R., & Boonstra, J. (2003). The Change Capacity of Organizations: General assessment and five configurations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 52(1), 83-105.

2. Meyer, C., & Stensaker, I. (2006). Developing capacity for change. Journal of Change Management, 6(2), 217-231.

3. Turner, D. M. (2015). Launch Lead Live: The executive’s guide to preventing resistance and succeeding with organizational change. Saskatchewan: YNYP.

4. Nutt, P. (1998). Leverage, Resistance and the Success of Implementation Approaches. Journal of Management Studies, 35(2), 213-240.

Help! Our Change Champion Has Stopped Championing

What does a change management team do when the “champions” of the change stop championing?

A participant at a workshop asked me this question. The change management team was frustrated because the leaders who launched the change initiative had stopped championing it. Yet, they were still expected to implement the change.

I have been asked this or a similar question many times. The message I receive is always the same—the change management or project team feels abandoned by the change sponsor. Once this feeling emerges the team starts to question how they can successfully implement the change, or even why they should continue when it appears the change sponsor is not supporting the change.

When this happens both the specific change initiative, and your organization’s success with future changes is at risk.

Read more

10 Reasons Organizational Change is Like a Marathon

This Sunday, in Winnipeg, thousands of people will participate in the Manitoba Marathon. Congratulations to everyone who will be running. It takes determination, courage, and commitment to run a marathon. Organizational change can be like running a marathon. 

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My top ten reasons why organizational change is like a marathon:

  1. You are doubtful in the beginning, excited at the start line, exhausted in the middle, and really (and I mean really) proud when you cross the finish line.
  2. It can destroy you if you haven’t prepared properly, but when you are prepared it can build your capacity for even greater accomplishments.
  3. It is as much a mental and emotional endeavor as it is physical.
  4. It requires involvement; no one can run the race for someone else and have them receive the benefits.
  5. You need the commitment to persevere. Buy-in isn’t enough to get you through race.
  6. How quickly you recover after the race depends on how well you prepared before the race.
  7. Celebrating your success is part of the process.
  8. You can only complete the race at the speed of your own readiness and ability.
  9. Support and encouragement along the route can make the difference between quitting or completing.
  10. You can only successfully complete one race at a time.

Regards,

Dr. Dawn-Marie Turner

Helping you launch, lead and live change more successfully.

Organizational Change at Rosings Park

Every summer I make time to read at least one novel. This summer I chose Diane Morris’s Rosings Park.

In the interest of full disclosure, Diane Morris has been my dearest friend for over 20 years. She is an accomplished technical writer and has published two university textbooks and numerous articles and other papers on nutrition. I was thrilled when I received a copy of her first novel, Rosings Park. I just knew it was going to be a great story. What I didn’t expect was to get a lesson in organizational change. Read more

Getting Leaders Ready: One key to successful organizational change

Summer is almost over and already you can see early signs that fall is on its way. The days are getting shorter, there is an evening chill that lingers a little longer in the morning and maybe the surest sign – the stores have begun to advertise their back to school specials.

As fall approaches and you get back into a more regular routine you may be thinking about rebooting and re-initiating work that you put off to let staff enjoy the summer or because you weren’t ready to get started. If any of that work involves change—whether it’s a software implementation, a new product launch, business expansion, new business process or any other type of change—it’s never too early to ensure your leaders and managers have the knowledge and skills to implement and sustain the changes your organization needs to be successful. Read more