The Changing Change Expect chaos during transformation. Transforming a company's culture is like starting an earthquake. It's a gargantuan venture to initiate, but, once the plates beneath the earth begin to shift, nothing can stop it. Many, but not all, old structures fall. Others must be knocked down later. Some people become victims. A few become heroes. Many stand aside as observers, knowing they will have to rebuild when it's over. Some are curiously untouched by the experience. There's ample time for careful planning prediction, and preparation during the period of investment before the earthquake of transformation. Once the major forces go into motion, though, the challenge is to react immediately and appropriately to a cascade of ever-changing events. At that point, the business of change is messy and dangerous and emotionally exhausting. Those who believe they are controlling the earthquake delude themselves. No one knows what the terrain will look like after the upheaval subsides. In the first stage of transformation, the possibilities of change are explored. The Senior Sponsors voice the vision. Outside consultants may be brought in to help. People get involved in analysis and planning. They begin training themselves and others for roles in the transformation. They create teams to address the problems of implementation. Arrangements are made to train people whose work must change. A variety of stakeholders -- customers, suppliers, and support groups -- are brought into the process. In the second stage, the organization is torn apart. As the change surges toward Critical Mass, unforeseen problems and opportunities occupy huge amounts of time. Between the time Critical Mass is achieved and the peak magnitude of change -- when the transformation reaches its Natural Limits and the company stops shaking -- time is consumed fighting fires, rescuing the lost, patching up casualties and comforting the victims. In the final stage, it is re-integrated. Activities are coordinated to make the changed ways a normal way of doing business. Just as individuals progress through the stages of change at their own rates of speed, so do systems within an organization. Groups that are more fit for this change may seem to zoom through the process while others struggle to learn new roles and mobilize the energy required to get going. This poses a significant challenge because functions that have changed are not getting the support they need to sustain their gains. Lacking the support of groups that have not changed, the tendency is to revert back to the old ways. In some cases, it takes so long to get all the critical functions over the hump that fast-moving groups may have had time to rest and begin a new change by the time the others have caught up. Great strains are placed on the entire organization. This chapter is about the pitfalls and surprises in the course of transformation. The change will change and change again. During the early stage of learning and awakening, the direction of the change is shaped by political and financial issues. The Senior Sponsors create a general strategy that merits their investment. Those involved early on in the transformation effort negotiate changes in the transformation plan to assure they can succeed in their responsibilities. New requirements of outside stakeholders emerge and are accommodated. Insiders whose support is necessary win other accommodations. Unforeseen opportunities rise on the horizon and the change shifts direction to seize them. Unexpected barriers appear and adaptations are made. During this long period of investment, what started as a crisp and compelling vision may become clouded. As the investments mount and the stakes become higher, pressures for visible results increase. Seeing little payback in the early stages, some who have invested in the transformation pull out. Key people leave the company for better jobs. Skeptical board members or corporate executives question the new direction. Radical alternatives to this change are considered. Someone suggests selling the company (or the business unit that's to change). Political balances shift and new visions are accommodated. Faith in the vision and transformation is tested. No one knows if investment in the transformation will continue until Critical Mass is reached. Pressures for short-term results create serious discussions about cutting the losses and settling for less than expected, even settling for less than the real world requires. Opponents of the change are elated and rush in with "more realistic" plans that seem to support small moves in the right direction. But these plans almost always stalemate the possibility of transformation. Early enthusiasm declines and pockets of pessimism grow. The forces of resistance win some battles and key elements of the vision are compromised. Some executives lose the vision; they begin powerfully modeling and reinforcing old ways of doing business. Opponents energetically follow these people and promote their positions. Fence-sitters are relieved and get back to normal work. All of this can go on for months -- often for years -- while the change makes tiny gains. As the process creeps on, the rate of investment in transformation levels off and sometimes declines. When this happens, the meager visible results that are being produced level off or decline. The pressures of ordinary business prevail. The change stalls. Your transformation may seem dead, but it can rise from the ashes. If the new vision was conceived to adapt to significant pressures from the outside world, at some point those pressures will grow great enough to spur a restoration of the investment and the change will be renewed. If adaptation is critical to the organization's survival, but executives refuse to sponsor the change, you can expect that they will be replaced sometime before the business dies. Most of us have little individual control over the factors that cause a change to speed up, slow down or stall. Every one of us has some influence, though. You can tell transformation colleagues of your concerns and offer support for the change you believe is necessary. You can talk with those who are planning the change and urge variations in the vision that make the change easier to implement. You can initiate contacts with peripheral stakeholders (customers, suppliers, or uninvolved groups) to gather information about their interests in the change. By taking this information to the people who seem to be doing the planning, you enhance the quality of their work and insert yourself into the process. Be cautious about pressing the issue of unforeseen opportunities or hidden barriers during the planning process: you may be cast as a zealot or an opponent and lose personal opportunities. Find ways to make contributions in the early stages and you will likely be considered as a founding member of the transformation team. You may have a greater voice in the change that finally takes place. Brace yourself for the replacement of executives, bosses and others. One of the most deeply rooted customs of any organization is the method by which people are afforded the authority and the independence to lead. As an organization truly changes, the demands on leaders change in equal proportion. These demands grow not just greater, but different. People who best reflect the corporate values and its vision for the future are best rewarded. When the vision for the future departs from tradition, a new profile emerges for leaders. The more different the organization becomes, the more clear it is that the next wave of leaders must be selected by a new set of criteria. In changes that last more than two or three years, senior leaders are typically replaced by people who more closely match the new model. This is not merely a matter of cutting out the dead wood and retiring the "old dogs." Often those who were effective champions of the change in its early stages find themselves mismatched to the new organization they envisioned and helped create. The more comfortable you have felt with the leaders of the past the more uncomfortable you may feel with the leaders of the future. If you are a manager or executive and were selected by the old criteria, you may have to make significant personal changes to survive in this role in the future. The most important work for you during the change may be to work on adapting yourself. The period of greatest insecurity for corporate leaders is between the time the change begins doubling its magnitude and the point at which the organization restabilizes. Between this takeoff and Critical Mass, key executives and managers who drag their feet -- or who are not fully on board -- are most likely to be replaced. Between Critical Mass and peak magnitude, those who are unwilling or unable to change themselves enough are in great danger. Also during this period, a few people actively involved in the transformation tend to be offered up as sacrifices to very senior opponents or zealots in return for their support (or silence). Other executives and managers who just don't fit in the new organization are replaced between peak magnitude and the point of restabilization. If you are neither a corporate authority nor a major change player, you are most vulnerable between Critical Mass and the peak. While it's wise to do everything in your power to assure your future in these turbulent times, you may seriously endanger yourself if you attempt to save others from losing their jobs. It's equally risky to try to get someone fired. Let the change happen. Be prepared for significant changes in the vision. In organizational transformations, shifts of vision are so common, they are predictable. New and different outside pressures create the need for immediate adaptation. Sometimes the necessary changes can be included in the current plans. Other times, new pressures are so urgent that the changes under way must be set aside to address them. One company in the midst of implementing a leading-edge change in its industry had to stop investing in this initiative when its parent company faced financial ruin and demanded cash. Another company, dramatically advancing its product line with technology, found this change strengthened by shifts in the marketplace that redefined its customer base. New leaders bring fresh ideas to the change. As top people are replaced during a transformation, the vision is adapted to reflect new priorities. A major corporation had invested in a quality initiative for several years, but the change was stalled and the company was reverting to its old ways. Its senior executive moved on and was replaced by a chief with a different agenda. The new leader chose to blend his vision into the quality initiative to make use of the time and money already invested in change. This transformation rose from the ashes. New understanding expands the possibilities for this transformation. The initial vision for a company's future is created from the perspective of that company at the starting point of the change. As transformation opens new territory and expands the frontiers, the perspective changes. Often it becomes evident in the midst of a change that far more is possible than was ever dreamed. A small engineering firm, attempting to transform itself into a large organization, developed a software program to make its work easier. Only at that point did they realize the market for this product could be worldwide; it transformed itself into a software company. Technical innovations or limitations can dramatically alter the boundaries of the change. Plans for change frequently call for the use of a new technology, but, before it is installed, advances in that technology create opportunities that were unforeseen in the initial vision. Sometimes, technologies crucial to the change prove unworkable; the vision must be revised. The vision will change as you move into the future. If you are less than happy with the initial vision, this can be an opportunity. If you allow yourself to become a true believer in the initial vision, this can be a disabling threat. Stay in the game through political upheaval. If you are only comfortable in a rank-ordered organization (like the military), the constant shifting in transformation will make you dizzy. People make change happen, position and authority don't. Because radical change usually involves more than one fundamental shift in power within an organization, those who are able to deal well with others from any position (up, down, or equal) tend to fare best in the process. It's just as great a danger to expect different treatment because you are in a lower level position as to expect it because your position is higher. Build your relationships on a person-to-person foundation, not on a position-to-position basis. The work of transformation is conducted in teams of people who act as equals. If talking candidly with your bosses or if listening openly and learning from your "subordinates" is tough for you, find a way to develop this ability before the change breaks loose. Your capacity to team with anyone in the company is essential to making a positive contribution when the company is transforming. Carefully manage your personal politics. Maintain a very special relationship with the people who are pushing transformation in your area and with your boss (they're frequently different people). Talk about possibilities for your next assignment. Also talk about where your boss will be working next. Insist on keeping this issue open. Don't expect that anyone else will be able to guarantee a smooth re-entry for you as the organization stabilizes. Broaden your network throughout the company to develop other options. Remember that your career belongs to you. You are responsible for it. If you leave the company, you'll take it with you. Resolve your problems with anyone in the company who's become your adversary. You won't have the energy to attack or defend during the transformation. Involving yourself in personal conflicts or turf battles when the company is reinventing itself may target you as expendable. And it's possible that your old adversary will be the one who's making that decision. Your company may abandon the change. After making the investment in a new vision, some companies decide to abandon the transformation effort entirely. This often happens after leaders are abruptly replaced or after the business is sold. Selling the company is a sure sign the transformation has been abandoned by owners. No matter what the cause, if you've invested heavily in the transformation, this kind of abandonment is crushing. You may not want to stay with the company. You may not be allowed to stay with the company after the change is abandoned. But don't assume this will be so. Deal with your own feelings first. What would it take for you to keep working here and also be happy and committed in your job? Can you make this happen? If so, investigate the possibilities. Plan several different approaches to negotiate a deal that satisfies you and allows you to make a valuable contribution. You'll better the odds of success merely by taking the initiative. Declare a loss if you must. Declare a win if you can. As outside Change Agents, we typically complete our assignments long before our clients' companies achieve Critical Mass and stabilize. As we walk away and look back to assess our own accomplishments, we see chaos. Without much experience, it's easy to see the transformation process as a failure. From a close perspective, in the midst of change, the company looks far more like its history than like the vision it has established for the future. More often than not, though, a check back with the organization five years later has us shown that remarkable progress was made toward the vision. We've begun to question the statistics we read about the failure rate in attempts to transform organizations. We wonder if those measurements were taken too soon. Or if progress was measured against the wrong criteria. When assessing the success of a transformation, ask "What has changed?" not "Did we achieve the vision?" Remember, change comes from the outside, not from vision. Organizations move to become what they must become (and can become) regardless of our visions. Judge the success of the transformation by the actual structural changes that have been effected and you'll find lots of wins. © 1993, 1998 ChangeCraft™
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