COP15: Does the climate need effective change management?!?

Recently we had the pleasure of hosting the U.N: Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, and as you can imagine Danish media have been building up to this important event. And though I have a pretty realistic idea about the limitations in international politics, I thought that there was such a strong momentum from across politicians, NGO’s and the general public to actually get some sort of deal through at the end. But no. So disappointing.

And it makes me wonder what part of the change management effort that went wrong?

And to be honest – it’s not like we havent seen this before in business: The platform is burning hot, everyone is very aware of the harsh realities and invited to the table - but politics and a opaque process manages to mess everything up.

To me this is a strong reminder to know and work with my stakeholders, so that I’m absolutely confident I know their mandate and agendas – and choose time and place carefully before forcing a decision through. Also, it is a strong reminder to all of us, that we get the political leadership we deserve – and without strong leadership capable of taking the responsibility for today and tomorrow, changes initiatives (however obvious and important) will remain to be fruitless both in the world and in our businesses.

The organization changes when you do

When we design and plan the organizational changes we all to often forget to pinpoint the desired behavioral changes that is needed for the change to be successful.

From an overall organizational perspective we may just be changing one system, one structure or one simple process – but in fact, the change will be translated into a myriad of changes as it is digested down through the organization and translated into everyday working life. Each individual that is impacted directly og indirectly must adapt to the change by challenging his/her existing habits and behavior.

And make no mistake: One thing is working with the conscious, rational mind in the world of strategy, planning and learning – another is working with the unconscious, habit-oriented mind where we work by our ingrained routines, traditions and rituals. And to make sustainable changes we need to work with both mind states.

When was the last time you tried to break a bad habit – remember how hard it was?

Practical tips:

• Make sure you have a clear and convincing case for the change: WHAT is the change about, WHO will be impacted and HOW – and WHY are we doing this?
• Make sure to take the time to do a full impact analysis and map the needed behavioral change for the change to be successful
• Offer the needed training and coaching
• Consider which compensation or rewards you can offer to those putting in the biggest and most important effort
• Be clear on how to measure behavioral compliance – and be clear on what consequences non-compliance will have?
• Monitor and follow closely the important first 100 days
• Communicate progress to everyone
• Gather feedback pro actively

Project management vs. Change management

The interfaces between project management and change management overlap, and they are certainly interdependent when it comes to successfully delivering value by supporting the strategic initiatives of the business.

To put it roughly the project management team handles the technical and administrative side of the project, whereas the change management team handles the people side of the project.

Project management is key when it comes to initiating, planning, executing and monitoring the projects activities and deliverables. They ensure a strong solution design backed up with detailed project plans. 

Change management prepares the organization for the project impact, manages the transition from how we do things today to how they will be done tomorrow – and puts special efforts into reinforcing and anchoring the change into the everyday work and life of the organization.

Key tools in project management are the project charter, business case, budget estimations, work breakdown structure, resource allocations, scheduling and tracking. Key tools in change management are organizational assessments, stakeholder mapping and interventions, communication and coaching plans, training programs, sponsorship road maps and reinforcement activities.

Successful projects and project managers integrate the two approaches, and makes sure to give equal attention to both the technical and the people side of the project. Unfortunately, all to often change management initiatives are late add-on’s if – or when – the project runs into trouble.

Do yourself a favor and invite change managers – communicators, HR professionals, Trainers, stakeholder managers etc. – to the table early in the project. It will be a well spent investment, that will help the project finish on target, time and budget.

As I see it, change management is the insurance policy of projects with a high people factor. And most projects need it.

Go see!

A CEO in a global corporation I recently worked with, had a mantra saying “Go See!”
 - And it’s possibly one of the best change management advices I’ve ever received.

Although it may not have been fully thought through in terms of traveling budgets etc. it amazes me how efficient a shortcut it can be in the stakeholder management processes – where we, instead of just guessing and assessing, actually “go see” and “go ask” to evaluate their level of awareness, support and receive the valuable feedback we need to build a strong case and change implementation design.

Don’t guess and manage change from behind your desk: Go see!

Change put simply

Although change management actually is rocket science, it has often surprised me who – at the end of the day – actually pulls it of and delivers a successful change project from a-z.

It turns out that the most successful change managers I’ve met, all are very capable – and likable – people with a seamless ability to communicate and interact with people, no matter where or at which level in the organization they are. They are genuinely curious and interested in other people’s views and opinions, believe in the overall vision and are loyal to the company – and most importantly, they believe that the change they are pioneering will make tomorrow better than today.

They don’t lead – people follow.

I guess the change management task can be boiled down to figuring out:

• Why change is needed
• What needs to be changed
• Who needs to be involved
• What role must/should I play

Once that is figured out – the task is to help others do the same.

Are you being followed?

Two paths of change

The way we view change and the strategies of how to manage change are many, and reading the book “Breaking the code of change” I have seen an inspiring way of structuring these approaches to change that I would like to share with you.

The authors call it the Theory E and O of change. – E stands for Economical Value and O for Organizational Capabilities.

Curious? Read more…

Theory E sees change initiatives as a mean to optimize shareholder value and maximize profits. Leaders set goals based on the expectations of the financial markets, and as one leader puts it. “I have a goal of $176 million this year and there is no time to involve others or develop organizational capabilities.”

Leaders of this approach do not trust lower-level managers with tough, strategic decisions, and do not have the time to build consensus through participation. The natural focus is on achieving results by changing strategies, structures and systems – the “hardware” of the organization.

Capital market expectations force a short and tight schedule for change and the change will most often be a carefully planned, well-sequenced program for change.
Theory E changes rely on financial incentives to motivate a singular focus on creating economic value.

To achieve rapid and extraordinary improvements in economic value, companies often hire large consulting firms to infuse specialized knowledge, market knowledge and best practice across industries.

Theory O change aims to develop organizational capabilities – especially the capabilities of the employees to become involved in identifying and solving work-related problems and challenges. A main driver is emotional commitment to the change and to improving the performance of the company.

Leading change from this perspective involves a high level of involvement and collaboration at all levels of the organization. Involvement is seen as vital for building the partnership, trust and commitment that key to long-term performance improvements.

Theory O will see the main challenge as changing culture, belief systems and values that over time has given structure and systems legitimacy. There is a natural focus on values and behavior and top management will use these to shape the company culture and guide employee behavior.
The change is managed by a clear vision and values and will be implemented with local participation and experiments – providing a space for a more emergent, bottom-up process that is well anchored in the reality of every business unit.

Focus will be on providing personal incentives with less emphasis on financial incentives and more on skills and collaboration. The consultant role in Theory O change initiatives focuses on designing and facilitating processes, being an experienced resource and sparring partner for how to move the change along as we learn, adjust and get better.

——

As the authors point out, it’s not necessarily an either or situation but a matter of integrating both approaches in the design for change. But at the end of the day, I believe that we must choose which initial path we are taking and what underlying principles we use when looking at change and working to see it come true.

I have to say that I’m a believer in the “O” way of working with most change initiatives. What about you?

The popcorn story

 After a long day at work, I decided to go home and relax with a good movie. I really enjoy watching movies at home from my couch, and at his time of year there’s something special about tucking in under a warm blanket to enjoy a good movie in the bosom of the family.
To complete the experience I need… Popcorn.

Luckily, I had some microwave popcorn in my kitchen cupboard that I wanted to pop. I read the instructions carefully, placed the bag in the microwave and started to time the process.
As the microwave started buzzing I could hear the first corns popping *pop!*, *pop!*, *pop-pop!* More popping followed and it escalated into a burst of pops that eventually rang out with a few corn popping randomly as the time ran out. I took the steaming hot popcorn out and went back to start the movie.

As always the popcorn were eaten before the movie really got started, and at the bottom of the bowl I found quite a few unpopped corn. So I started to minutely lick and suck the salt of each unpopped corn.  But as I was licking the stupid corn, the fact that they didn’t pop started to bug me. Why didn’t they pop when I did exactly what it said in the instructions?
Determined that this corn would not get the best of me, I decided to give the unpopped corn another go in the microwave. Nothing happened. I turned up the heat and smoke started to come out of the microwave. They wouldn’t pop and the smoke detector went off.

Thinking it must have had something to do with the specific bag of corn; I tried it again with several bags all with the same result: About 10% popped fast and easily, 80% popped in a bursting curve after a while, and the last 10% just wouldn’t pop.
By now, the rest of the family had finished the movie, and I made peace with the fact that at the bottom of every bowl of popcorn, you’ll find corn that just won’t pop. C’est la vie.

…..

In my work as a change agent, this story has become a consistent metaphor for designing and implementing change.

Studies show that the awareness, acceptance and implementation of most change processes actually progress much like the microwave popcorn in the story. In every case you will find people who understand and adapt to the change easily and readily, people who are neutral but can be won over and finally, the people who will fight and resist the changes as much as possible. I call them green, yellow and red popcorns.

The trick is to appreciate the green corn that ”popped” early in the process and put our focus on the big majority of people starting to accept the change. Doing this, we can work with the green “popcorn” to reach critical mass and anchor the change we want to see. Sooner or later the few red corn will either give in or give up.

What makes people pop?

The truth is that you can’t trick smart people to change.
- But you can earn your right to make the transition together with them.

To help yellow corn turn green, you need to help them figure out why the change is needed, what the future will look like, what the plan is and how the he or she will be affected and involved.

By focusing on establishing awareness we help people see the need for change and acknowledge that we are on a burning platform.

By communicating a compelling vision we can mobilize people painting a clear picture of what the outcome will be, and how we can benefit from the change.

Present an engaging plan with very clear and practical first steps to tell people how and when their worlds are going to change and when they will receive the information, training and support they need. This will help people take the first steps and get ready to pop.

A sense of ugency

We may have top management support, a great team driving the change and a well equipped toolbox but it won’t help much if there’s no real sense of urgency.

Often referred to as “The burning platform” it is the fuel that’s going to get people on all levels in the organization moving and keep going when the going get’s tough.

As change managers, it’s first of all our task to discover – not develop – where the true source of the “reason why”, our raison d’etre, is. And if it’s not really there, you better backtrack a step or two or prepare to push the car all the way home…

So how do we raise the level of urgency? In my experience, there could be several sources:

Translate and expose
What would happen if we did nothing? Find the answer and translate into the favorite business lingo: Figures. Put the figures into perspective and make a bold event through a strong metaphor, visualization etc.

Raising the bar
Making sure that the business targets or KPI’s are set so high that business as usual simply is not possible and progress is monitored closely. This could be revenue, productivity, customer satisfaction, cycle-time etc.

Bring in the customers
Nothing seems to speed up the process more than facing customers or end users - walk a mile in their shoes and experience your service first hand or set up a simple platform for listening and engaging in dialog. It will work wonders, I promise. 

Salute the competition
Demonstrate the competition on your market. You could build up a strategy canvas displaying your weaknesses,  visit the competitors’ stores or use other creative methods to make it clear that we’re on a burning platform.

Inspire
Can you paint a clear picture on what the world could look like if you just took advantage of the possibilities right in front of you? If so, this is also a good wa to go about it. Again, it’s imperative that you use other means than merely rational arguments but also use emotional experiences and personal value drivers to motivate and move people in the right direction.

What can you do that is bold, creative and relevant to the business to raise the awareness and get a flying start?

Democratic design for change

At the core of every successful change effort I would argue that we find a democratic nerve center – an effort to bring key stakeholders on board through heavy involvement and giving everyone else in the organization who is affected by the transition the invitation to get involved and make themselves heard.

All to often we limit the work with designing the change to a small group of “chosen ones” leaving the rest of the organization on hold until they are hit by the tsunami “roll out” – a phase in the process where it’s hard or even impossible to make a positive contribution.
Doing this we miss out on the collective knowledge and creativity in the organization and looses the opportunity to win people over from the get go.

I stumbled over this great set of principles for organizational democracy from Worldblu, which makes perfect sense managing change: 

1. PURPOSE AND VISION
A democratic organization is clear about why it exists (its purpose) and where it is headed and what it hopes to achieve (its vision). These act as its true North, offering guidance and discipline to the organization’s direction.

2. TRANSPARENCY
Say goodbye to the “secret society” mentality. Democratic organizations are transparent and open with employees about the financial health, strategy, and agenda of the organization.

3. DIALOGUE + LISTENING
Instead of the top-down monologue or dysfunctional silence that characterizes most workplaces, democratic organizations are committed to having conversations that bring out new levels of meaning and connection.

4. FAIRNESS + DIGNITY
Democratic organizations are committed to fairness and dignity, not treating some people like “somebodies” and other people like “nobodies.”

5. ACCOUNTABILITY
Democratic organizations point fingers, not in a blaming way but in a liberating way! Democratic organizations are crystal clear about who is accountable and responsible for what.

6. INDIVIDUAL + COLLECTIVE
In democratic organizations, the individual is just as important as the whole, meaning employees are valued for their individual contribution as well as for what they do to help achieve the collective goals of the organization.

7. CHOICE
Democratic organizations thrive on giving employees meaningful choices.

8. INTEGRITY
Integrity is the name of the game, and democratic companies have a lot of it. They understand that freedom takes discipline and also doing what’s morally and ethically right.

9. DECENTRALIZATION
Democratic organizations distribute leadership and power across their enterprise.

10. REFLECTION + EVALUATION
Democratic organizations are committed to looking in the mirror and asking, “How can we be better?” – not just quarterly or annually, but daily.

Are you ready to introduce a democratic approach to your change efforts?

The change formula

Ever wished for a simple recipe for change?

Beckard and Harris (1987) developed a change formula listing the factors that needs to be in place for a successful change to be implemented.

The change formula: C=[D x V x FS] > R

• C is the change that will occur
• D is the level of dissatisfaction with the status quo
• V is desirability of the proposed change – the end state or vision
• FS is the first practical steps of the change
• R is the resistance to change

The multiplication signs imply that if any one factor is not present – or zero – the equation will add up to zero and the change effort will fail.

Although this formula is attempting to put a very complex matter into a simple equation, I think it’s a great reminder of what to remember assessing and planning a change process.

It makes me wonder…

• How do we create the sense of urgency and the will to change when people are pretty much happy with where they are?
• How can we create a clear picture of what the desired change consists of, especially if the change is intangible as a result of a process designed to discover the end goal along the way?
• How good are we at communicating uniquely desirable outcomes tailored to the individual key stakeholders instead of company strategy?
• Nailing the first practical steps and making them a success is easier when there’s someone to do the job and tell the world about it. Who is pioneering the change? Who is supporting him/her? Who is sponsoring the change in top management?