Struggling with change?
The challenge in dealing with change is not just in the change itself, but also in the way we understand the nature of change.
Change in organisations is often characterised as a series of rational and logical steps; as ‘first this then that’, in an ordered sequence. Even the way we experience change at a psychological level, can be understood as a number of stages. I have sat through several change presentations in which the work of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross on bereavement has been applied to the experience of organisational change. In this account Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance are a sequence that describes how people respond to any challenge. Implicit in this is the idea that change is something that people don’t want – indeed I have heard several trainers and consultants confidently assert “of course, no one actually likes change”.
Well I do – and quite often actually. And, though I may be a little strange, I suspect this is true for many people. Our views about change can be positive or negative and can themselves by dynamic, but not in a nice sequential way. In managing the impact of change, we need to take into account that peoples views will continually shift. Successfully managing change must place, at its core, the impact that it will have on people.
‘Impact’, is one of four strands of change management that Mike Apter and I proposed a number of years ago. (You can download a whole article on this: "Change is not what it used to be" ). The idea of strands is offered as an antidote to the idea of change management proceeding through a number of stages. The importance of each strand ebbs and flows during the course of a change programme but NEVER disappears. For example, another of the strands is ‘Initiation' - understanding and communicating the absolute necessity for the change. I have worked on many projects when - partly as a result of an evolving understanding of the change requirement – the need to communicate and re-communicate the need for change remains a constant well into the project. Similarly, the remaining strands; 'Organisation' – planning, establishing milestones etc and 'Implementation' - taking control of what happens through resourcing, decision making and feedback, are constant factors requiring vigilance and attention. The strands are interdependent; for instance failure to manage implementation successfully may require more attention to ‘Organisation’, along with focus on how one might manage ‘Initiation’ and ‘Impact’.
Struggling with change? It’s not a bad idea to consider which of these strands are being under managed!
Please note that your comment will not be available for viewing until we have had a chance to review it.