By Neil Simon, Fred Zimmer, Gwendolyn Esco Davis
Change – it can be invigorating or it can be extremely difficult. Some changes are so easy that they seem to accomplish themselves while others never have a chance!
In the life of an organization, for a variety of reasons, change (adaptation) is likely to be hard for people. It is relatively easy to figure out what needs to be done, and then tell everybody about it. That is where organizations tend to put their effort and energy. The tough, complicated part, which is frequently overlooked or ignored, is getting organizational members to accept, exhibit and sustain new ways of behaving. The difficulty is not just the discomfort individuals experience as they try to personally change (or resist change) but the mechanisms the organization employs (or doesn’t employ) by which organizational members are encouraged to change or discouraged from changing. Whether change initiatives are being adopted for the first time, or some change is being made in what change initiatives do, or how it is used, someone will have to put some serious work into convincing the organizational leaders and its members to behave differently with regard to change initiatives – over the long haul.
So how do we do that, anyway?
This article will explore three of the major areas of leverage in getting organizational members (people) to adopt Change initiatives:
- Organizational structure
- Organizational culture
- Personal operational style
You know, that PEOPLE STUFF!
Organization as a system
An organization can be viewed as a system of interdependent components. The graphic below shows one view of an organizational system’s components and the relationships among them. Implicit in this simple model are the people who operate within the system, interacting with and impacted by everything else. Every component here is designed or evolved by people to facilitate or govern other people’s work.
Organization components and relationships
The organization as a “general system” with its components can be described as follows:
- Organizational culture – the organizational philosophy, vision, mission and guiding principles, the social rules that determine what gets attention, how events and information are interpreted, what the priorities are, what is valued, etc.
- Structure – the organizational architecture that supports business activities (e.g., hierarchy, roles and responsibilities, work hours, pay rates, rules of deportment).
- Individual Skills & Aptitudes – each person’s unique contribution including knowledge, personal operational style, unique vocational skill sets and behavior patterns.
- Work processes – the flow of tasks and information; level of performance expectations.
- Work practices – the formal and informal policies and procedures that govern the manner in which people complete work. (e.g., searching patent files vs. specific academic databases)
- Tools & technology – the equipment and knowledge that assist people in completing work.
The three focus areas tend to be overlooked when changes are being planned for change initiatives. Each one merits a bookshelf of its own. The purpose of this article is to provide only an overview and some things to think about.
Organizational structure
Structure has to do with the way the organization is built, and how its basic employee-related functions work. The reporting structure (usually but not always a hierarchy) has a key impact on change initiatives and its probability of success. Early research conducted by one of the authors showed that Change initiatives fit into organizational hierarchies in diverse ways. Each organization is uniquely constructed and structured. Different processes and the resulting work practices connect in unique ways that are often driven by the reporting and other structures of the organization.
What Change Initiatives Must Accomplish
Successful change initiatives create and define a place for themselves, rather than accepting a default that limits the contribution they can make to achieve the organizational vision. The placement of the change initiatives often can influence the acceptance and use of the change initiatives process. The change initiative needs to be positioned in the organizational structure in such a way that it has the respect of leadership in the organization. Change initiatives needs to have key decision-makers and thought leaders involved while maintaining active sponsorship. Emergence of a change initiative within the organizational structure can impact the access and influence the change initiative has in the organization.
If a change initiative is to be successful and play a significant role in the organization, the change initiatives leadership and its sponsors need to understand the notion of system “fit.” Fit describes the place change initiative occupies in the organization. The concept of fit and the impact of organizational structure include such things as:
- Reporting structures and placement in the hierarchy (assuming there is one).
- Work processes that incorporate the change initiative where it can make a substantial contribution.
- Policies and procedures that encourage or mandate the use of change initiatives.
- Skills, tools and technology to support change initiatives.
- Reward system that encourages or discourages integration of the change initiative.
Often a change initiative unit is “placed” or targeted for a specific activity or function that is not adequately working. Initially the change initiative seems to make sense. If it is not integrated properly the change initiative dies or becomes captured in its spot eternity. For example, if an organization is have a quality delivery problem and employees a SPC process for the isolate problem it makes jobs for people but never gets down to the underlying causal factors.
The bottom line is that much of the way a change initiative will work for the organization is predetermined by the placement of the change initiative (or multiple change initiatives ) in the organization and the rules (policies, procedures, reward system, etc.) that regulate the integration of the desired change. It is important for the leadership two proactively and work (lobby) for appropriate integration of the change initiative.
This article is based on the original work by Simon, N., Kern, A., “It Would Be Easy If It Wasn’t For People,” Competitive Intelligence Review, Volume 12, Number 1, First Quarter 2001
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