Why change

They worry that employees with seniority will become defensive, that morale will drop, that events will spin out of control, that short-term business results will be jeopardized, that the stock will sink, and that they will be blamed for creating a crisis.

A paralyzed senior management often comes from having too many managers and not enough leaders. Change, by definition, requires creating a new system, which in turn always demands leadership. Phase one in a renewal process typically goes nowhere until enough real leaders are promoted or hired into senior-level jobs.

Transformations often begin, and begin well, when an organization has a new head who is a good leader and who sees the need for a major change. If the renewal target is the entire company, the CEO is key. If change is needed in a division, the division general manager is key.

When these individuals are not new leaders, great leaders, or change champions, phase one can be a huge challenge. Bad business results are both a blessing and a curse in the first phase. But it also gives less maneuvering room. With good business results, the opposite is true: convincing people of the need for change is much harder, but you have more resources to help make changes.

But whether the starting point is good performance or bad, in the more successful cases I have witnessed, an individual or a group always facilitates a frank discussion of potentially unpleasant facts: about new competition, shrinking margins, decreasing market share, flat earnings, a lack of revenue growth, or other relevant indices of a declining competitive position.

Because there seems to be an almost universal human tendency to shoot the bearer of bad news, especially if the head of the organization is not a change champion, executives in these companies often rely on outsiders to bring unwanted information.

Wall Street analysts, customers, and consultants can all be helpful in this regard. In a few of the most successful cases, a group has manufactured a crisis.

One division president commissioned first-ever customer-satisfaction surveys, knowing full well that the results would be terrible.

He then made these findings public. On the surface, such moves can look unduly risky. But there is also risk in playing it too safe: when the urgency rate is not pumped up enough, the transformation process cannot succeed and the long-term future of the organization is put in jeopardy.

One chief executive officer deliberately engineered the largest accounting loss in the history of the company. Anything less can produce very serious problems later on in the process. Major renewal programs often start with just one or two people. In cases of successful transformation efforts, the leadership coalition grows and grows over time.

But whenever some minimum mass is not achieved early in the effort, nothing much worthwhile happens. It is often said that major change is impossible unless the head of the organization is an active supporter.

What I am talking about goes far beyond that. In successful transformations, the chairman or president or division general manager, plus another 5 or 15 or 50 people, come together and develop a shared commitment to excellent performance through renewal. But in the most successful cases, the coalition is always pretty powerful—in terms of titles, information and expertise, reputations and relationships. In both small and large organizations, a successful guiding team may consist of only three to five people during the first year of a renewal effort.

But in big companies, the coalition needs to grow to the 20 to 50 range before much progress can be made in phase three and beyond. Senior managers always form the core of the group. But sometimes you find board members, a representative from a key customer, or even a powerful union leader. Because the guiding coalition includes members who are not part of senior management, it tends to operate outside of the normal hierarchy by definition. This can be awkward, but it is clearly necessary.

If the existing hierarchy were working well, there would be no need for a major transformation. But since the current system is not working, reform generally demands activity outside of formal boundaries, expectations, and protocol.

A high sense of urgency within the managerial ranks helps enormously in putting a guiding coalition together.

But more is usually required. Off-site retreats, for two or three days, are one popular vehicle for accomplishing this task. I have seen many groups of 5 to 35 executives attend a series of these retreats over a period of months. Companies that fail in phase two usually underestimate the difficulties of producing change and thus the importance of a powerful guiding coalition.

Sometimes they have no history of teamwork at the top and therefore undervalue the importance of this type of coalition. Sometimes they expect the team to be led by a staff executive from human resources, quality, or strategic planning instead of a key line manager. No matter how capable or dedicated the staff head, groups without strong line leadership never achieve the power that is required.

But, sooner or later, the opposition gathers itself together and stops the change. In every successful transformation effort that I have seen, the guiding coalition develops a picture of the future that is relatively easy to communicate and appeals to customers, stockholders, and employees.

A vision always goes beyond the numbers that are typically found in five-year plans. A vision says something that helps clarify the direction in which an organization needs to move. Sometimes the first draft comes mostly from a single individual. It is usually a bit blurry, at least initially. But after the coalition works at it for 3 or 5 or even 12 months, something much better emerges through their tough analytical thinking and a little dreaming.

Eventually, a strategy for achieving that vision is also developed. In one midsize European company, the first pass at a vision contained two-thirds of the basic ideas that were in the final product. The concept of global reach was in the initial version from the beginning. So was the idea of becoming preeminent in certain businesses. But one central idea in the final version—getting out of low value-added activities—came only after a series of discussions over a period of several months. Without a sensible vision, a transformation effort can easily dissolve into a list of confusing and incompatible projects that can take the organization in the wrong direction or nowhere at all.

In failed transformations, you often find plenty of plans and directives and programs, but no vision. In one case, a company gave out four-inch-thick notebooks describing its change effort. In mind-numbing detail, the books spelled out procedures, goals, methods, and deadlines. But nowhere was there a clear and compelling statement of where all this was leading. Not surprisingly, most of the employees with whom I talked were either confused or alienated.

T he possibilities are endless, even if it takes some work. Think about how much the internet has changed over the last years! Imagine you still had to send a fax, instead of an email or that there was no online shopping.

Our lives are made easier by the changes happening around us, every day. It helps us to become flexible and accept different situations with an open mind. Being flexible is important, especially when you have other protagonists in your life such as your boss or a partner.

You partner may not always want to do what you want to do or like the same things as you but , being flexible will ensure both of you are happier in the end. Initially , the thought of change can feel scary since there are so many unknowns on the other side. Embracing Change in Life Adapting to change is sometimes difficult because we are simply not ready to let go. If an unhappy relationship comes to an end, we soon realize that it actually ends all that agony and pain that we used to go through.

The more we welcome change, the more it affects us in a positive way. There are things in life that change automatically and sometimes very rapidly too. But sometimes we need to bring the change ourselves and we need to make sure that we benefit from it. You will miss out on a lot of opportunities to improve yourself and your lifestyle if you keep resisting change.

Embracing change in life is like starting a new chapter with different characters and different circumstances; many of which might be better than the last chapter. When we choose to think positively about our growth and […]. Allan, I read your blog today. I wish I had done it some 25 years back! All the points whicha can impact and move a person into change succinctly grouped together. This Article is one of the best I have ever read on personal Development. There can be no change about this View!

Hey Raam, Thank you so much for your kind words and I appreciate that the article moved you in a way. I guess I shoulda posted this somewhere twenty-five years ago!!!! I hope you are well and still following the movement of embracing and making change constant in your life!

You can always […]. Yes, you know where this is going. Hi Sharon! Thanks for dropping by. Absolutely you may use this in your weekly recovery group! Feel free to use as you wish and certainly anyone can come back here and send me a comment or thought.

This is one of the most popular articles on my site here! Thank you! A really well-written and meaningful article! I found a small motivation in myself to write about change as I read your blog… Life is about growth, but many people remain the same without even sparing a thought even for a moment.

Many people think that they have come up to a level by which nobody can demand anything from them. They are repulsive and unchangeable even if it is for their own good.

Here are my thoughts about the change that needs to be brought about in humanity as a whole. Thanks Kari! I appreciate you and your comment and your views on change and humanity. Good stuff! Keep it up and do share! Dare I even say it? Change can often yield better results than we ever could have […].

September 15, Speaking In China. September 9, An inspirational speaker who understands what meeting and event planners are looking for in a professional keynote speaker for sales meetings, conferences, seminars and conventions. Meet Allan The Road.

The Journey. The Setbacks. Our current world is constantly evolving in terms of technology and many other challenging but innovative ways.

Having the ability to face these new challenges head-on will not only develop the company as a whole but also those who work within it. As we saw previously, while change may be difficult, it can also be tremendously beneficial to both the company and the employees at the business.

Companies who are stuck in their ways or who are unbending in the way they approach the business are opting for a stale working environment. At the height of their success, Blockbuster had thousands of retail locations and millions of loyal customers. Unfortunately, CEO John Antioco lacked a vision of the future and was resistant to face the inevitable change lurking on the horizon.

In Reed Hastings, the founder Netflix which at the time was a struggling startup providing DVD mail order services proposed a partnership with Blockbuster. Antioco laughed in his face and turned it down. For much of the next ten years Blockbuster was in decline, and in filed for bankruptcy protection. Innovation and the ability to react to change in your business area come with the possibility of great new business opportunities while ignoring the need to change can come at great peril.

There are many reasons why change hits in the workplace - and often with seemingly unrelenting frequency. Many of the changes we are seeing are the result of the pandemic and what appeared a temporary change may now be longer lasting. In addition, some changes, such as government change, will always have a particular shelf life, but today the changes are coming on fast and more frequently. Keeping change a part of your ongoing strategy will enable you to keep competitive — and also grow as a company.

Without change, companies may soon find themselves falling behind the curve and losing ground compared to competitors. They need to be able to change and adapt to keep up with our ever increasingly more technological and developing times.

Businesses should ideally move and adapt fluidly. Rigid work environments can result in shutting off creativity which helps new ideas grow. Staff who perform the same jobs constantly day in and day out will never get the chance to show their skills or learn anything new to bring to the company.