How to Survive the Change

When Your Company Makes a Major Shift

By Doug Wesley

This article was written for the people most likely to become victims in a corporate change: managers in the middle who neither directly supervise work nor set strategic direction for the future. In the midst of major change, managers -- the people responsible for building and maintaining organizations that make work efficient -- frequently find their work misunderstood and discounted by both their leaders and those who normally would follow them. The article is written by a professional change agent -- one of the people who upsets and disorganizes stable management systems to introduce new capabilities and to support new values. I offer these insights with an understanding of the havoc and pain people like me cause in the lives of good managers. And with the firm belief that, after people like me have gone, the changes we create can only last through stabilizing, conserving management work.

What's New About Change?

Twenty-five years ago Alvin Toffler's book, Future Shock, opened with these words:

...between now [1970] and the twenty-first century, millions of ordinary, psychologically normal people will face an abrupt collision with the future. Citizens of the world's richest and most technologically advanced nations, many of them will find it increasingly painful to keep up with the incessant demand for change that characterizes our time. For them, the future will have arrived too soon.

Toffler showed that the rate of change in our society had not only increased, it was accelerating, and that the rate of change has greater impact on people than the direction of it.

In the midst of chaos, it's difficult to discern the larger patterns of change. The rapid pace of change continues today and the tremors of global change course through your company, probably through your job, as well. Toffler, a futurist, wrote his brilliant assessment of change in the late 60's yet he failed to foresee the OPEC oil crisis that would throw the United States into debtor status and realign political balances worldwide. Neither did Toffler see the emerging dominance of Japan in world markets or the proliferation of personal computers.

Some Changes Succeed and Some Fail

Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement in Poland seemed to have failed. But succeeded. Mikhail Gorbachev broke Lenin's tradition of party unity (in place since 1921) by sponsoring glastnost, a new openness, to re-energize a failing perestroika, the restructuring of his nation. Shortly after his inauguration in 1989, George Bush, expressed reservations about whether perestroika -- or Gorbachev -- would survive and in April of that year Gorbachev faced a crisis of support, even offering his resignation. After shoring up his leadership position, he traveled to China and became the catalyst of a democracy movement that failed due to lack of effective support at top levels. At the end of 1991, Gorbachev's perestroika achieved the point of no return -- success -- as the flag of the Soviet Union was lowered for the last time. Interestingly, Gorbachev had become an opponent -- and a victim -- of the change by then.

In December 1989, the changes Frank Lorenzo brought to Eastern Airlines appeared to have succeeded, but half a year later the bankrupt Eastern was separated from its owner (only to die alone) and Lorenzo negotiated a sweet personal deal that took him out of the airline business entirely. Information about the effects of fat and cholesterol on heart disease have significantly changed a nation's eating habits, even spawning new industries (like frozen yogurt) and changing the recipes of famous old companies (like McDonald's french fries). Sears, the nation's largest retailer, failed to adapt for dominance in its central business and even closed down its catalog operation, but surprises itself in the remarkable success of "Discover," a fresh credit system that competes with Mastercard and Visa. Over the past several years, New York has lost 25,000 jobs and Los Angeles has gained nearly that many. We see burgeoning giants like Microsoft invent the future with its software while IBM, the father of the personal computer age, struggles to change itself merely to survive.

As these massive changes succeed or fail, people -- people like you -- gain and lose power and credibility and security in their jobs. New jobs are created. Old ones are abolished or "collapsed." Your company and your industry are undertaking changes now. What are these changes? Where are they leading? How long will the worst of the change last? What will happen to you?

Targets of Change (Who's In Danger?)

The greater your value in the old order the greater your potential for loss in the new.

The greater your power in the old system the greater your potential of loss in the new.

The longer it's been since you've learned a new career skill the more probable you will fall behind new people.

The longer it's been since you changed one of your beliefs, the lower your potential to lead.

The more you believe this change is truly wrong for the organization, the greater the possibility you will not survive it.

The more you have to change your skills and beliefs to adapt, the less likely you will excel in the new order.

Types of Change (What's the Danger?)

Good businesses change constantly. This is necessary to keep current with daily challenges from the competition and the customer, to adapt to the quarterly, and seasonal cycles of the marketplace, and to stay on top of the longer economic cycles that may last a year or more. Reacting to these business cycles is like changing the tempo or the volume or the key of the company song; it's sung a little differently, but it's still the same song.

When your company makes a structural change,
your status, your value, even your job can be threatened.

Some changes are different, though. When the environment undergoes a permanent change -- one that represents a significant threat or a new great opportunity -- it is wise to respond by making a permanent structural change in the company. During this generation, businesses have adapted permanently to a new role for women, generally accessible computers, "1-800" direct marketing, the universal role of television, and scores of other shifts in the outside environment. Structural change is like changing the words or the tune of the company song (or both); after the change, the organization sings a whole new song.

Structural change in companies upsets the traditional order of things. Imposing a structural change means adding a new corporate value and removing an old one or moving traditional values down in importance. For example, a a famous, manufacturing company changed from expecting everyone to "Do it right" (by company standards) and "Keep the cost low" to new values of "Give the customer what s/he wants" and "Charge a reasonable price." Structural change almost always demands a change in the skills and capabilities most important to the company. Thus, employees who were shining examples of low cost, low error, "by the book" output may be less valuable now than those who are sensitive and responsive to customer needs, willing to try new things to meet those needs, and willing to raise prices for the extra service.

Roles of Change (Who is the Danger?)

Every structural change must have a Change Sponsor, a person with the legitimate authority to mandate a change in what the company does (it's capabilities) and in what it stands for (its values). The Change Sponsor may be someone new to the organization or may be someone you have known in a different capacity for years. When you hear a powerful senior leader making speeches pointing out how the future must be different from the past and how the company will adapt, you are likely listening to a Change Sponsor. Change Sponsors don't ask for your vote or permission to change, they declare a new direction. ("It IS because I say it is.") The best Change Sponsors don't expect themselves to perform surgery on the organization (though they do expect to pay the price), they appoint Change Agents to do the dirty work.

Change Agents are the people who tear the organization apart and put it back together in the new form. They work like reconstructive surgeons. Sometimes Change Agents are outsiders with experience in your field gained elsewhere, but often courageous insiders assume the role. Change Agents work under the authority of a Change Sponsor (who is often several steps up in the hierarchy).

Change Agents appear to be dangerous. If you end up a casualty of the change, it will seem as though the Change Agent dealt you the blow. You may get the feeling early on that this person represents a danger to you. If so, the warning signals you are picking up are probably accurate, but the source of danger is not the Change Agent. The danger is the change, itself. Remember, the agent has been authorized to implement a change ordered by a senior official. If you are able to defeat the Change Agent, s/he will probably be replaced by a stronger one. Don't waste your time fighting the Change Agent, you'll only draw greater attention to your position, attention you may not want.

You can spot a Change Agent. A person working as a Change Agent predictably looks and acts different from the people who normally hold a position at that level in your company. It's normal to hear comments like, "He's too young," "He's under- (or over-) educated," "He's an outsider," "He doesn't understand we're different from our competitors," "She's a woman," "She's never worked at this level before." Foolish people resist the change by discounting the ability or the survivability of the Change Agent. It's important to realize that Change Agents often move out of the group after the change takes root. Major corporate shifts often go through several Change Agents -- and sometimes through more than one Change Sponsor -- before they are completed.

One sign of a Change Agent at work is wave after wave of reorganization. When you begin to hear jokes about "this week's" organizational chart, take note. Change Agents bring new capabilities into companies and they phase others out. The good ones use a series of little steps. Watch for a pattern in the reorganizations: is one area of the business moving farther and farther away from the powerful people? If it is your area, you might consider abandoning ship. A common tactic of Change Agents is to isolate functions to be eliminated before cutting them off entirely.

People are the primary unit of change. Successful organizational changes are carried out by people who do the actual work, Change Couriers. The job of Change Agents is to enlist and mobilize Couriers to bring new capabilities to the company and to exemplify the new values associated with the change. Change Agents are responsible for identifying those who resist the Courier role and for bringing them on board. Those who don't join in risk becoming victims of the change. Whether you keep your job or lose it, life is miserable as a victim of change.

You may get the feeling that the Change Agent
represents a danger to you. But look closer.

Warning Signs (When is a Change Coming?)

Some changes are thrust on organizations by forces in the outside environment.

Competitors are closing in. When new competitors set their sights on a traditional market share -- like the big home improvement stores targeted hardware and lumber businesses -- the old businesses have no choice but to change. When market share slips to competitors, as happened when Sears' customers moved to K-Mart and then to Walmart for lower prices, Sears had to change its philosophy. The change Sears chose was "everyday low prices." The emergence of USA TODAY, a colorful national newspaper with lots of graphics and short stories, shocked the publishing industry; most journalists still laugh at it and say that it's not really a newspaper even though it circulates over a million copies a day. To readers, most newspapers now look more like USA TODAY than they did ten years ago.

Employees and the labor force change. Demographic shifts in the labor market (the people available to work) have caused businesses to change their expectations of entry level workers, of the length of time an employee will stay with the firm, and of the types of service the company can provide its customers.

Customer needs and demands shift. Customers are always a primary source of pressure and if customers make a permanent change, as they did in the seventies when the consumerism movement significantly increased their sophistication, businesses must respond appropriately to survive. Business organizations and their industries have developed a pattern of misunderstanding the nature of changes the government forces on them. Predictably, in democratic societies, the government only squeezes industries that have lost the confidence or respect of their customers. Government pressure is usually indirect customer pressure.

Legal changes bring instant pressure. Changes in the law have forced enormous adaptation in the insurance industry, in medicine, and in chemical industries. These changes can bring danger or opportunity (or both). Because of our political system, legal changes usually follow -- rather than lead -- social changes.

Technology leaps forward. A new technology can spawn products so advanced and desirable that entire industries can be threatened. Some examples are the impact of television on newspaper readership, the blow to television networks by cable and videocassettes, the effect of personal computers on the typewriter industry.

Signs that Change May Be on the Horizon

You can see some signs of impending change even before your company knows it is coming.

If you work in a company that is prospering in a field with little serious competition, if your company has made no major change in years, or if people in the company feel extremely comfortable in their positions, watch out. You can expect structural change in the future. How long will it be until changes in the rest of the world leave you behind or until an aggressive new competitor sees you as an easy target?

If your company has turned its procedures and processes into hard science, scorning those who try to improve them, if the operation has not taken any risks lately (or punishes risk-takers), you are an even better target for an aggressive new competitor.

If you see your company in a low-tech industry where nothing could possibly change it or if your product line is the same as it has been for years, take another look. You may find that your customers ready to help an aggressive new competitor put you under.

If you find out too late that your job is in the middle
of the change path, you may be on the road to oblivion.

Internal Signs That Change Has Arrived

Sometimes people find that their company is way down the road to a structural change before they ever get wind of it. If you find out too late that your job is in the middle of the change path, you may be on the road to oblivion. Career survival depends on vigilance. Here are some signs that your organization has already begun a major change.

Strategic Signs. A new mission statement has been written and published. Senior leaders talk more (and more positively) of the future than of traditions in the past or of performance in the present. Top management has committed substantial funds or other capital for investment in new equipment and/or training in new skills. The company's values (or their relative importances) have changed.

Organizational Signs. Someone two or three steps away from your boss on the organizational chart is controlling your funds, resources, priorities, or time. A different kind of person is on the fast track. Strangers or people with strange backgrounds are moved into positions of power or influence. New heroes are emerging. Outside consultants seem to be playing a role in major events.

Operational Signs. The company is experimenting with new products/services or attempting to create relationships with a new kind of customer. Top managers have made visible changes in their styles or activities. The company looks and feels different. Experimentation is encouraged and rewarded (even experiments that fail). People are working together differently and communicating differently. Information is being disseminated in new ways. Senior employees are expected to change an old skill or add a new one.

When people with strange backgrounds are moved into positions
of power or influence, wake up and smell the coffee.

Personal Signs: Warnings That You Must Change NOW

If your first thought of surviving the change comes at this point, you've abdicated responsibility for your career. We hope you've left it in the hands of someone who cares deeply for you (and that that person will survive the change).

The criteria for your performance appraisal have changed significantly. Work methods in your area have changed radically. New technology or equipment in your area confuses you. There are signs your job may be abolished or collapsed. Your department or operation is in danger of being abolished. You no longer know where everyone and everything belongs. You have to communicate with, or report to, different types of people.

You don't know where you stand, what will be rewarded (or punished), or the exact nature of your role. What you did in the past is no longer valued here. You have lost control and power. You have more to lose than to gain in doing what's expected of you. Your pride is gone.

Strategies To Survive A Structural Change (What Do You Do?)

Fall Forward. If you (or your job) have been targeted specifically as standing in the way of the change, take the hit and fall forward to a spot that can improve your position. In any case, do not fight to the bitter end, do not fall in place where you will be trampled to death, and do not fall back to another position that will be attacked.

Find a Niche. Ferret out some spot in the organization that is off the beaten path of the change and that needs your experience and skills. Even old skills you haven't used for years. Look for an operation that's going very well now, one that can continue as it is and still effectively support the groups that must change. Transfer to that operation even if you have to take some cut in status and pay.

Become a Convert. Embrace the new values with religious fervor. Work hard to master the new skills. Read books that support the new way and quote from them. Openly advocate the changes you see. Look for areas of the company that are escaping the change and make proposals about how to bring them in.

If you've ever been acknowledged for performing an act of heroism
for the company, attempt to be declared a ''sacred cow.''

Bolt Proudly. As early as possible in the change process, find a good competing company dedicated to traditions similar to those you respect and leave your organization for a position where your experience is valued and needed. Vow to prove the old ways are viable by winning every head-to-head competition with the old outfit.

Earn "Honored Relic" Status. If you've been acknowledged for performing an act of heroism for the company, if an officer has ever proclaimed that you saved the company, attempt to be declared a "sacred cow," one whose valiant history has earned an exemption from the change process. If you are being kept on and protected for this reason, do not squander your security by opposing the new order openly or tacitly. Conduct yourself with quiet dignity as a crippled war hero who can no longer fight. This type of role exists to bring honor to the company by allowing it to demonstrate its loyalty. Not to lead or to consult.

Fake It. This is high risk. But some people have succeeded and are having fun with it. If your work is not dead in the way of the change taking place, but you are expected to "pledge allegiance" anyway, say the pledge and act the part without really changing what you do. It is imperative that you learn the language for daily use and be able to adequately fake the new methods if put on the spot. Only choose this strategy to have fun with the company and don't be surprised or hurt if you lose your job when you're found out. Do not use this method to set up an underground resistance to the change; any good Change Agent will see the signs and remove you with dispatch. One electric utility, committed to becoming a Management By Objectives company trained everyone but a handful of the wiliest, slipperiest, most resistant managers then forced those people into a backwoods retreat for a week. In that session, they taught these confident, risk-takers to fake MBO in public and with their bosses, accepting that they would act as they pleased when on their own. That was a smart Change Agent!

Get Appointed "Devil's Advocate." Major corporate change is often accompanied by enthusiasm so deep, it blinds change advocates. Often an "us" (new "in" people) versus "them" (old "out" people) situation emerges. This endangers the company's important, traditional capabilities and values. Smart Change Sponsors appreciate one or two old-timers with good judgment who remain committed to the company, but are open with their criticisms about the change. America has a tradition of allowing a little corporate glastnost. This role balances Change Agents who act beyond their charter, altering values or changing areas that were meant to be conserved. Choose this strategy only if you enjoy fighting the good fight for principle alone and don't mind losing a lot more than you win. Have no illusions, though. There is no power here, just the privilege of communicating with those who do have the power. And this is a dead end position. While "Devil's Advocates" are listened to, they are rarely promoted and some even lose their jobs as their usefulness comes to an end when the change project winds down.

The Tactics of Survival (How to Survive the Change)

Grieve Privately. The pain of change is the pain of loss. You were comfortable in the old system, you succeeded in it, perhaps you even helped to build it. To watch others molest your old organization is painful. Your grief is real and appropriate. But remember, grief is the process of healing after a loss. Allow your sadness to serve you, let it prepare you for a new future. Understand that the agents of change may misunderstand your grief about the past in their zeal for the future. If you choose to stay with this company, grieve privately and refuse to discuss your mourning for the old ways with people at work. Do talk it out with wise friends away from work, though.

Protesting ''That's not the way we used to do it,'' may be taken
as a compliment by a Change Agent rather than as a warning.

Learn the Language. One of the most subtle devices of any culture is its language. Those who speak it are "in," and those who do not are "out." The easiest way to become a casualty of the change is to lose touch with the changes in language that always occur in a cultural shift. People with the keenest ears hear it early on when executives from different parts of the company begin using a similar new word or phrase. Sharp people destined to become casualties of the change make fun of the new buzz words. Sharp people determined to survive take the new language seriously. They learn it and they use it appropriately. You'll even find it far easier to prevail in challenges to the new system when you have fluent command of its language.

Surrender Yourself to a Sponsor. Sponsors make a contribution different from that of a Developer (trainer/coach). Sponsors back people who are already capable enough to be a good bet for the future while Developers work with people to realize their unknown potential. Where Developers actively direct and lead, Sponsors support strong contributors from behind. Where Developers focus their comments on the work, Sponsors help out with relationships and organizational issues. Sponsors help capable people fit into -- and excel in -- the organization. Find a Sponsor who understands and supports the new order. Make a deal that allows you to focus your full energies on doing excellent work while faithfully following the Sponsor's advice on political issues.

Question Experience. Avoid comparing the present to the past in your communication at work. The point of implementing a change is to make certain history -- thus, certain experience -- irrelevant to the future. Protesting that "That's not the way we used to do it," or "We tried that and it didn't work" may be taken as a compliment for a Change Agent rather than as a warning. You will find it far easier to make points by comparing what's being done now to future results rather than to past experience.

Avoid Fighting for Positions or Territory. As in an earthquake, territory shifts in a structural change. Survivability depends more on flexibility and resilience than on position. What once was prime territory you may have worked years to acquire may well be on a corporate "fault line." (Whoever stands there is at fault.) During the change process, especially, work to become known for your continued contribution in spite of shifting territory. Good Change Agents tend to leave flexible survivors alone while they deal with those who rigidly fight for specific personal territory in the organization.

Culture a Reputation as a Committed Moderate. If you have been through structural changes before, you know that things will never turn out exactly according to the executive vision of the Change Sponsor. Life just doesn't work that way. One reason Change Agents frequently fail to survive the change is that they believe too fully in the vision; they tend to keep working to make theorganization perfect long after it's time to get back on the road to peak productivity. If you don't totally buy the Sponsor's vision (or the Agent's version of it), you can survive as long as those who count know you are committed to the company -- and to your continued effectiveness -- whatever form the organization takes. One way to do this is to become an avowed moderate: listening to, understanding, and accepting the cases of those who support the past and those who support the future, but becoming a convert to neither.

Refuse to Honor the Past; Smile at the Future. "That's ancient history. I've got all the challenge and fun I can handle in this job." That's how a veteran employee replied when offered consolation about being bumped down from an executive slot to his old position as a salesman. He had changed jobs just three weeks before. This fellow was a flexible survivor. When asked about the programs he had pushed before, he gave proper reference to the new person in charge and changed the subject. Without ever declaring it, he became a model of the effective Change Courier, willing to pick up and carry forth whatever challenge he was offered.

Structural change projects come to an end.
Your organization won't be in chaos forever.

Survive the Change

We sincerely hope that you survive the change. That's easy for us because good Change Agents take pride in how many people they were able to retain, not in how many they replaced. We hope that reading this makes the challenge you face a lot less frightening and a bit less painful for you. (If there is no pain at all, you're not changing.) There is one great piece of positive news we have saved for last: Effective change projects come to an end. That means you won't be in pain forever. Your organization won't be in chaos forever. There will be a return to optimum productivity where people like you are valued once again, as they should be. Just make it through. Survive the change process.