Who conspired to kill change?

On April 23, 2024, 8:00 AM

“Managing change is not an easy task. It requires commitment, effective communication, strong leadership, and a willingness to work through resistance. It also helps to have a sense of humour and a game plan” – Godwin Gaduga

To stay ahead of new technological advancements and economic developments, companies need to embrace change. According to research and advisory company Gartner, the average business has undertaken five major organizational changes in the past three years. A further 75 percent of those companies expect to pursue additional change initiatives in the coming three years.

Organizational change is typically pursued because it’s believed the transition will enable a business to operate at a higher level—becoming more efficient, productive, innovative, and profitable.

If the change is managed incorrectly, it can become a double-edged sword, leading to a loss of productivity, absence of innovation, and poor performance from employees. Gartner indicates that just 34 percent of all organizational change initiatives are considered a “clear success,” while 50 percent are deemed to be “clear failures.” A further 16 percent yield “mixed results.”

Organizational change depends a lot on perception. I came across a movie titled “Denial” recently, which is based on the book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier. The movie covers the 2001 court battle between American historian Deborah Lipstadt and Holocaust denier David Irving. Mr. Irving sued her for libel regarding how he was portrayed in her prior book, Denying the Holocaust. The movie highlights how humans interpret the world around them differently, which sentenced me to think about similar dynamics that occur during organizational change. How these dynamics play out affects both employee morale and the success of the initiative.

One is tempted to think of an organization as a single mass where everyone understands communications from leadership in the same way. We like to think that when the CEO speaks, everyone hears the same message. But, this is not the case. While the listeners may hear the same sounds, the meaning each person hears can be quite different. Thus, in an audience of any substantial size, it is likely that multiple, often divergent, interpretations are formed rather than a single, “true” interpretation.

Once the stakeholders communicate with each other, these alternative interpretations are in contention, and often one interpretation eventually dominates. Usually, the more accurate interpretation wins, but at times the myth prevails.

Denial of Organizational Change

One approach to threatening information is simply to deny its existence. In Denial, Mr. Irving has made a name for himself by providing books and speeches shining a positive light on Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler. Because evidence of the organized, mass extermination of the Jewish people tarnished his viewpoint, Mr. Irving at first denied evidence of Hitler’s involvement. He claimed that there was no evidence of an order from Hitler, so it didn’t happen. He also referenced scientific reports that pointed to supportive conclusions, although those reports had been discredited.

Psychology researchers believe denial arises from a need to reduce anxiety about a situation. In the psychological theory of cognitive dissonance, individuals experience emotional turmoil when confronted with external situations that do not match their internal beliefs and values. So, when a job or status in the company is threatened and a person feels helpless, that person might be more prone to denial. Using denial can reduce anxiety about their own adequacy to perform the new work.

Many people are familiar with denial as part of the Five Stages of Grief Model. This model was described by Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying. Based on observations of terminally ill patients, Kübler-Ross postulated that people normally move through the stages of anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. While subsequent empirical research has provided some support for the model, other research suggested that human processing of grief is more complex than the model presents.

WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE?

Organizational change is the process by which a business alters key components of its strategy or operations. This may involve changes to company culture, essential technologies (systems), organizational structure, or major initiatives and goals. Depending on the objectives you’re trying to achieve, organizational change may be either continuous or intermittent.

Organizational change is typically categorized into two types: Adaptive and transformational change. Adaptive changes are small, incremental modifications that an organization undertakes to evolve over time. They can be thought of as the fine-tuning of processes and business strategies. Transformational changes, on the other hand, are larger in scope and scale and typically involve a radical shift in direction for the business. These changes are often the result of outside forces putting pressure on the company, such as the emergence of a new competitor, government policies, market regulators, etc.

Solving the Mystery of Leading People Through Change

“Change can be successful only when the usual characters in an organization combine their unique talents and consistently involve others in initiating, implementing and sustaining change”

I came across books on change management and I know that there may be many books on the subject of change management, but what sets “Who Killed Change” apart is its unconventional presentation approach. In a light-hearted and astute manner, the writers have brought attention to the complexities of organizational change while providing invaluable advice to managers of all sizes of businesses.

The story starts by describing a murder scene of yet another change. Agent Mike McNally, a Columbo-style detective, investigates the crime scene and makes a list of thirteen (13) suspects that he thinks are the most commonly involved culprits in the murder of anyone with the last name Change. He interviews all thirteen (13) suspects in detail to resolve the case.

How the author describes the suspects, personifies them, and relates them to the cause of Change’s death is quite engrossing. His description clearly shows an irony between what they are and what they should have been as far as change implementation is concerned. Another important insight provided by the author while these suspects are being interviewed is that most of them have to work in synchronization with each other, otherwise, failure is inevitable. These murder suspects are described as follows and in all similar cases, they are always the same.

Culture – Culture is the set of predominant values, beliefs, and norms that define an organization. Culture plays a critical role in the entire change process. If change is to be implemented successfully, then managers should make sure that the existing culture in their organizations supports and sustains change, meanwhile detecting loopholes where existing culture is not aligned with the proposed change and taking corrective actions.

Below are helpful questions to guide managers and leaders.

If you want to implement Change, figure out how to leverage the current Culture to support, enable, and sustain Change.
Use Sponsorship, Accountability, and Incentive to reinforce the Culture required to enable and sustain Change to thrive.
Determine where your Culture currently stands concerning the proposed Change to determine what actions are needed to align Culture with Change.
How would you describe your organization’s Culture?
In what ways is your organizational Culture malleable in accommodating new Changes that are introduced to the company?
In what ways could your Culture inhibit successful Change?
How difficult will it be to Change your organization’s Culture?
What can you do to align your Culture with Change?

Commitment – Commitment refers to the people’s motivation and willingness to change their behaviors as a result of a change initiative. This can be achieved only if people working in the organizations are informed about the change along with the knowledge as to how it will impact them. Any concerns regarding change should also be addressed and this is the responsibility of the leadership team. To make people see how change will affect their lives and how important it is for them to be committed can only be achieved through a clear vision, and through proper planning that will integrate change in their daily routines.