Change Management — theory and practice

The origins of Change management can be traced back to the 1950’s when a social scientist by name Kurt Lewin researched field theory and published articles related to Psychology and human relations. He was also the first psychologist to study group dynamics. This was in some ways the start of what we refer to as Change management albeit taking different contours through the 1960s to the 1980s and evolving further during the 2010s. The Lean Change Management Association became the world’s first global organization to offer trainings designed to apply Lean Startup, Agile, and Design Thinking principles to change.

Though Kurt Lewin’s 3 step model made way for a more elaborate 8 step model introduced by John Kotter, in more recent times, Prosci’s ADKAR model is more widely used with reasonable degree of success being reported by organizations adopting the model.

Mindset over Matter

Whilst the science of change management is still relevant and the mechanics of measuring progress are important, I believe change management is largely about winning hearts and minds.

We all know Change is the only constant, yet quite often we like status quo and predictability, which means we become uncomfortable and perhaps advertently or inadvertently resistant to change. This resistance most often becomes the single largest factor which when inadequately or weakly overcome, results in failed change management initiatives and projects. Besides, lack of clear communication and not being able to establish the ‘what’s in it for me’ aspect for every stakeholder can have a significant impact in stalling change.

Three Practical Ideas to Manage Change

Impactful Storytelling

People that have successfully managed change will tell you it often starts with storytelling that resonates with the target audience. One of the greatest Change leaders Dr Martin Luther King shared his vision through powerful stories in such a way that people saw it, felt it, and internalized it, making it their own. It pays to build your narrative around why the change is needed, how it will help either enhance the positives or reduce the negatives in a particular situation or journey, and what is needed to make that change happen. When your vision becomes the collective vision for the group, the journey is could become a lot easier.

Engaging Change Ambassadors

Once you are able to win over the hearts and minds of a target group, make them your change ambassadors. For Change to be effective and lasting, driving it top down alone will not help. It has to be driven bottom up and sideways too. Change ambassadors play a key role in driving change sideways as they connect with their peers across the organization, sharing the narrative and evangelizing the benefits, bringing the much-required momentum to engage a wider population in the change program. Their profile and role are explained visually in the image below.

Two-way Communication

Communicating how the change is making a difference to the business every step of the way is pivotal to the success of any change management initiative. Sharing success stories that resonate with the audience could stimulate interest and whip up their enthusiasm to join forces. Identifying their concerns and alleviating their fears is another key step in the process. Communicating and encouraging continuous feedback helps course correct where the change is causing unnecessary disruptions and unwarranted bottlenecks. Recognizing the early adopters and encouraging them to role model what a Change lead could look like could do wonders to galvanize support and create a groundswell.

Notwithstanding the above, fundamentally you need to tie it to the business strategy to reinforce why the change program is pivotal to its success, and what positive cascading effect it will have on the team. When the storytelling glues these together, by joining forces with the Change ambassadors and continuously communicating progress, it is easier to get the teams engaged, invested, contributing to and steering the change as the organization traverses the journey.