Minnesota Chapter Why the Elephant Won t Dance! Understanding Your Organization s Change Readiness October 2006 Helping You Create and Sustain a GREAT Organization!
Jeff Russell Jeff Russell, co-director of Russell Consulting, Inc. (RCI) with his wife Linda, specializes in helping leaders build productive, supportive, and motivating work environments. RCI helps companies develop their leadership and strengthen team performance to achieve their great performance goals and outcomes. By guiding the exploration of key values held in common by organizational members and developing strategies and actions to express these values-in-action, RCI helps organizations achieve their strategic vision. Through processes that include "visioning" retreats, Future Search conferences, process redesigns, improving decision making processes, implementing quality improvement strategies, and providing a variety of skill-building seminars, RCI enhances longterm organizational effectiveness and performance. Consulting Expertise Jeff consults with public and private organizations in the areas of: balanced scorecards/dashboards customer and employee focus groups developing leadership employee attitude surveys employee retention programs Future Search conferences leading and implementing change organizational design self-managed teams systems thinking applications for business team assessment and intervention total quality management training needs assessment visioning and strategic planning Training Expertise Jeff conducts an array of leadership and team development seminars on such topics as: business process reengineering decision making and problem solving leadership and strategic thinking/planning leading change managing conflict and win/win negotiations performance coaching skills performance management project management team building fundamentals team leadership and facilitation skills total quality tools and techniques train the trainer Professional Background Jeff serves as an adjunct faculty member at UW- Madison, UW-Milwaukee, and UW-Green Bay. He is also on the teaching faculty of the UW-Madison and UW- Milwaukee Small Business Development Centers. Jeff has a bachelor's in Humanism and Cultural Change and a Masters of Science degree in Industrial Relations from UW-Madison. Before forming RCI, Jeff served as human resource coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA). At DOA, Jeff developed and coordinated their employee assistance, leadership and employee development, and equal employment opportunity/affirmative action programs. Conference Presenter and Author Jeff is a sought-after speaker at state, national and international conferences. Recent presentations include: ASTD 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 International Conferences in New Orleans, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., and Orlando Jamaica Employer s Federation Conference, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, 2004 and 2006 Wisconsin State Trainers Conference, 2004 and 2005 Wisconsin SHRM Annual Conference, 2004, 2005, and 2006 American Society for Public Administration Annual Conference, 2005 Leading Change, Shanghai, China, 2005 Jeff and his wife Linda have co-authored several management books: Managing Change, Managing the Problem Employee, So You Want to be a CEO?, Leading Change Training, Strategic Planning Training, and Change Basics (ASTD Press, 2006). Helping You Create and Sustain a GREAT Organization 1134 Winston Drive tel (608) 274-4482 Madison, Wisconsin 53711-3161 fax (608) 274-1927 RCI Online: www.russellconsultinginc.com E-mail: Jeff@RussellConsultingInc.com
What Enables the Success of Organizational Change Initiatives? We all know that, too often, our change efforts fail to achieve our objectives. But instead of focusing on failure (the elephant not dancing), think about the factors that are most important to the success of a change initiative. Reflect upon a recent change initiative (big or small, personal or organizational) that proved to be successful. Identify what enabled it to be successful. By Yourself.... Identify what you see as the key factors that contribute to the success of a change initiative one that achieves the goals it sets out to accomplish one that successfully gets the elephant to dance: In Your Group... Discuss your personal lists and identify what emerges as the top five factors contributing to the success of a change initiative: 2006, Russell Consulting, Inc. www.russellconsultinginc.com 2
Organizational Change Readiness What is Change Readiness? Change readiness is the cognitive state that occurs when organizational members have positive attitudes, beliefs, and intentions toward the change. If and when an organization (its members) attain this cognitive state, those who are asked to undergo a change are much more likely to accept the change, their resistance to the new directions and behaviors will be lower, and they are, as a result, much more willing to embrace the change with commitment. Change readiness is the first of the three cognitive states or conditions that people experience as they move (or don t) to embrace a change. These three cognitive states are: Understanding the three cognitive states or attitudes toward change. When introducing a change, change leaders should strive to develop each of these three developmental cognitive states in stakeholders as the change moves forward: Readiness is being cognitively receptive to a change and is evident through a positive openness toward the change in the attitudes, beliefs, and intentions of stakeholders. Acceptance moves beyond simply being open and receptive to the change. Acceptance involves a belief in the change and a willingness to work with the change. Integration builds upon acceptance and is characterized by attitudes, beliefs, and intentions that wholly reflect the change and which are difficult to separate from the individual s routine ways of being. Integration is evident when new ways of thinking and acting (the objective of the change) are deeply ingrained within the everyday thoughts and behaviors of stakeholders. 2006, Russell Consulting, Inc. www.russellconsultinginc.com 3
Why is Assessing Readiness Important? The Value of Assessing Change Readiness Identify the reasons why assessing change readiness should be an integral step when introducing an organizational change: Integrating the Insights for a Change Readiness Assessment How might you use the result from a change readiness assessment in designing and implementing a change initiative? 2006, Russell Consulting, Inc. www.russellconsultinginc.com 4
Assessing Organizational Readiness Assessing organizational readiness for change involves both the cognitive state of the individual workers as well as the context and organizational environment in which the change is taking place. The dimensions of organizational readiness include: : This component includes such issues as the clarity of the organization s vision, the location of decision making, the levels of employee participation in past change efforts, the strength of the organization s training and development efforts, the extent to which employees suggestions are listened to, the quality of communications, and the extent of performance accountability. : This component includes such issues as the degree of cultural receptivity to new ideas/innovation, whether teamwork exists within and between work areas, the level of trust between leaders and employees, whether people come together when under stress, the extent to which employees in the past have actively participated in change efforts, and whether people feel they are responsible for their own success. : This component includes such issues as the level of awareness of the forces driving change, the clarity of the change and its effects, the quality of the measures to gauge the success of the change, the organization s past success with change, the number of changes occurring at the same time, and whether the advantages from the change outweigh the disadvantages. : This component includes such issues as whether or not employees feel a sense of urgency for change, whether employees are fully engaged in their jobs, the degree to which employees are able to act independently in their jobs, whether innovators and risk takers exist at all organizational levels, whether employees feel that they have the opportunity to influence or affect a change, the degree to which employees are receptive to change, and whether employees have confidence in their manager s ability to guide them through the change. 2006, Russell Consulting, Inc. www.russellconsultinginc.com 5
Why the Elephant Won t Dance Our research into the factors that contribute to a change initiative s success or failure offers some useful tips for ensuring that your change initiative starts off on the right foot. The eleven most common causes of the failure of organizational change efforts include: 1. A lack of Many change efforts fail because they have failed to create a felt need or a sense of urgency throughout the organization. Before selling people on the opportunities and benefits of a change, people must first experience the need to change. 2. A lack of a shared Where there is no vision, the people perish. Proverbs 29:18. Without a truly shared vision of the destination of the change stakeholders may remain in the dark as to the purpose and intention of a change and they will find it much harder to bring their positive energy to help drive the change. 3. An absence of outcomes Closely related to the absence of a shared change vision, change efforts often fail because they neglect to define and focus on specific and measurable outcomes. Every change effort must have clear metrics that enable everyone from those in the boardroom to those on the frontline to know if and when progress is being made on the change objectives. 4. A failure to the vision It s not enough to have a vision of the change and effective measures of the change outcomes. Stakeholders must understand and share this vision, they must understand the whys of the change, and they need to know the organizational and personal benefits resulting from a change. 5. Being surprised at the - from a change Every change, no matter how positively it is viewed by change leaders and others throughout the organization, will create emotional stress for some. If not anticipated or understood, this emotional stress is likely to result in higher levels of change resistance. 6. A failure to integrate perspectives into the change vision The questions, issues, and concerns of the dissidents and other resisters who lead the push back on the change can help improve and strengthen any change effort but only if these dissidents are encouraged to offer up their concerns. Successful change leaders pay attention to what the change nay-sayers are concerned about and then do their best to integrate these dissident 2006, Russell Consulting, Inc. www.russellconsultinginc.com 6
perspectives into the change vision. This strengthens the change by subjecting it to rigorous scrutiny, directly responds to stakeholder concerns, and helps build stakeholder commitment to a change that is more reflective of their concerns. 7. Failing to anticipate and confront to the change All organizational change initiatives experience more than a few bumps in the road. One characteristic of successful efforts is that the change leaders proactively anticipate, identify, and directly confront systemic and structural obstacles to the change vision and plan. 8. A failure to adjust or what works or doesn t into the change vision Successful change initiatives benefit most when change leaders have a high level of self-awareness that results from a critical assessment of the successes, missteps, and inevitable setbacks that they experience throughout the change implementation process. 9. An ignorance of the organization s Culture (as we ll learn later in this chapter) plays a powerful and often underestimated role in the success or failure of a change initiative. Successful changes are guided by leaders who have a deep respect for and understanding of the organization s culture and its role in the change process. Since an organization s culture shapes the beliefs, values, and behaviors of people at every organizational level, it is a central contributor to the success or failure of every change. 10. Failing to establish benchmarks of success Along with failing to define clear measures to gauge the change vision s success, the failure to establish interim benchmarks to measure the progress of the change can diminish stakeholder buy-in. Interim measures bring the added benefit of helping people see and feel progress something that may be especially important for maintaining stakeholder motivation during a long-term change initiative. 11. The lack of structural sustaining the change In the end, one of the most significant causes leading to the failure of change initiatives is the failure to create organizational infrastructure to help stabilize the change and reinforce the new ways of thinking and acting. Without structural reinforcements, change leaders, those on the front line, and everyone in between will tend to drift back into old mindsets and behaviors. As we ll discuss in the next chapter, sustaining change commitment requires an investment in a strong infrastructure that reinforces the desired new mindsets and actions in organizational stakeholders at all levels. 2006, Russell Consulting, Inc. www.russellconsultinginc.com 7
Resources for Getting the Elephant to Dance Bridges, William. Managing Transitions. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1991. Conner, Daryl R. Managing at the Speed of Change. New York: Villard Books, Random House, 1992. Russell, Jeffrey and Linda. Change Basics. Alexandria, Virginia: ASTD Press, 2006. Russell, Jeffrey and Linda. Leading Change Training. Alexandria, Virginia: ASTD Press, 2003. Schein, Edgar. The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999. For More Information For a copy of the PowerPoint slides from this presentation, visit www.russellconsultinginc.com (Recent Conference Presentations). A wealth of additional resources are also available from the Tools and Tips section of RCI s website: Performance Coaching Planning Worksheet Sample Exit Interview Tips for Employment Interviews Nine-Plus-One Common Causes of Performance Problems Delegation Worksheet Matching the Person with the Task Past issues of RCI s journal, Workplace Enhancement Notes including articles on resilience, leadership, problem solving, strategic planning, leading change, building customer loyalty, running effective meetings, emotional intelligence, and more. 2006, Russell Consulting, Inc. www.russellconsultinginc.com 8