Understanding What Really Drives Change

I read an interesting paper looking at the question of whether or not
organizational culture can over-ride leadership in the change game.
Actually I thought the question was a straw man, as it seems all to
obvious that leaders have a tough time trying to get organizations
to change.

By-the-way, the article I’m referring to does a nice job of looking at
models for framing change (emergent or ad-hoc vs planned) and
Kurt Lewin’s model of managing change: 1. Unfreeze, 2. Moving, and
3. Re-freezing.

After reading all this, and just reflecting this past week on the different
environments I have worked in and how relatively responsive vs.
non-responsive to change, I realized cataloguing the origin of change
or the processes it supposedly goes through is all a bit overly conceptual
on a day-to-day basis for me.  I’m more interested in tools that I can
use, so here’s my model, and how I use it.

1. Change comes about from 3 origins and is defined by the relative
tension or differences in power between the three, with the winner
always being the one exercising the most power as reflected by
kicking individuals out of the game. 

    1. Individuals, 
    2. Cultures or Systems and 
    3. Environment or Market.

 2. The individuals facing a change process or challenge always fall into
one of four buckets:  
    1. Early adopters, ready, and usually well motivated, at least at the start,
      but with a track record of getting distracted
    2. Wait and see, tentatively motivated, accommodating, but not working too
     hard at either the change or resisting it.
    3.  The fully resistant, either actively or passively pushing back at the change
    4.  The adopters that see it through, usually made up of groups 1 and 2, who 
    find their way to a point of buy-in and have the emotional resources and
    discipline to see their way to the end.

3.  I use both models in roughly this format:
   1. Find out who/what is exerting the most power on the outcome.  Either
        adapt (change) or raise the level of power I or the group I’m working for
        so that it is the strongest driver in the 3 ringed circus.

   2. If driving change, be very careful about who is on the bus.  Monitor
        regularly as momentum and motivation are both subject to fade-outs
       and reversals.  Garner enough power for the people on the bus, so that
       they can sustain the effort long enough to be successful with the early 
       adopters and wait and see groups, and either over-ride or ignore the
       fully resistant.Expect and treat change, to be a multi-layer event, keep watching,
        Keep adapting and keep the recognition high for any compliance and
        the pressure on when it’s tempting to back off.

    3.  Recognize that power in the change game is always exemplified
        by the process or willingness to kick people out of the game who
        don’t comply.  When the market is the most powerful, it’s rewarding
        some and clearly kicking others out of the game.  When a culture or
        system is the most powerful, it tends to kick out individuals who
       don’t fit or support it, including leaders.  When leaders are the most
       powerful, they kick people off the bus that don’t comply.  In some
       profound ways it really is that simple.

Bottom Line:

My own model is that change is ultimately personal and experienced in terms
of the power of personalities.  It is reflected as a tension between the
personality of leadership, the personality of the culture and the people who
most shape that, and the personality and actions of the market, where power
is exercised as the effect of kicking people out of the game that don’t
comply.   Stability looks  like unchanging power relationships, change looks
like a shift in dominance positions between the three personalities.  Just
remember, the personality that is actively throwing individuals out of the
ring that don’t comply, is in power and driving the change process.

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9 Responses to “Understanding What Really Drives Change”

1. Gerald Says:
   August 12th, 2011 at 2:56 pm

   I work for Yellowbook USA a company that is undergoing constant change as our society becomes more and more paperless. Your article rings true to what I’ve witnessed in our local office regarding change. Whether it’s a new product to sell, software to learn, or even our entire corporate structure adaptability is key. I credit my own ability to “go with the flow” for sustaining a career in sales which is not typically renowned for its job security.

2. admin Says:
   August 16th, 2011 at 11:38 am

   Gerald, thanks for the comment. Yes being adaptive is very important, and then when you pair that with ability to ask about and focus on the right thing, what “moves the needle”, you’ve got something really powerful.

   Rodney

3. Stephanie Says:
   September 1st, 2011 at 12:22 pm

   I has a boss once that always said “change isn’t bad it is just different” if you don’t like change you will get stagnant and others will pass you by.

4. Evelyn Says:
   September 3rd, 2011 at 12:09 pm

   It is interesting to read about the different groups of people within an organization and how traits one thru four affect a company. After reading this, it helped me to better understand why large corporations are so resistant to change or move so slowly with progress. It’s not just because large companies have many moving parts, it’s also due in part because certain individuals in key decision making positions fall into characteristic TWO and THREE. I received the brunt of such futility recently when I tried to offer my services to a couple of major super market chains. There is so much red tape, but at the root of it all are the traits described in this article.

5. Phillip Says:
   September 18th, 2011 at 12:35 pm

   I think those that resist change are afraid of the outcome because they think it could mean their job security and that some of the younger people that are embracing the change will pass them by or take their very jobs, which after reading your post and looking at the one throwing people off the bus I guess that is a plausible fear. In today society you want to be the bus driver not the one being thrown under the bus.

6. Barbara Says:
   September 20th, 2011 at 3:50 pm

   Change is going to happen and there is nothing any of us can do about it. I once heard a statement that went something like this “the only thing that remains the same is everything changes. Now we can fight change if we want to but it will only make us miserable. It is far better to go with it then to go against it.

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   September 23rd, 2011 at 2:05 am

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9. admin Says:
   September 23rd, 2011 at 1:32 pm

   Barbara, My favorite quote on the topic of change is one from John Galbriaith, ““Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.”