Organizational Change Model

When changing an organization, process, or lifestyle, are we really talking about change or… are we actually talking about adopting change as a way of conducting business going forward?

Let’s think about lifestyle change applied to one individual. It stands to reason that he or she
must truly believe that exercise, diet or lifestyle change is important enough to make change permanent. Why do you think so many exercise bikes show up at the landfill two months after New Years?


How do you go about leading organizational change? Do you go out and buy a book and follow the steps? After all, there are countless models that have very elaborate steps, phases and actions you need to do in order ensure that people buy into the new way of doing things. Do you write a memo and make the change an edict? Clearly, just reading a book will not get it done. It is much more than simply following a set of steps. Writing a memo won’t get it done either. You must fundamentally understand that a large proportion of people don’t like nor do they willingly accept change. You must get them to buy into what you are trying to do. At its core, change is hard. Why do you think there are lots of books on the subject, both individually and organizationally. All of these books and topics are talking about making some sort of change and making it a permanent way of doing business going forward.


Many times in the business world we are making change to improve the bottom line of the business. That means the leadership of the company wants to improve productivity and generally they want it, at best, quickly and at worst, now. Is this a realistic expectation? It depends, but expect that significant change will cause a temporary drop in productivity. Why? Because everyone that is affected by the change must learn a new method, procedure, standard or process by which it is to be carried out. That will cause hesitation, uncertainty and simply more time to carry out the new way. How should this be addressed? It starts with the person making the change. Leaders must set expectations at all levels – from the board room to the shop floor - that this drop will occur. And it will drop. That magnitude to which it happens is what is in question.


So, what can a leader expect? They can expect three phases. Not clearly delineated steps, but rather phases the person or organization will go through. The leader must know these will occur and know how to manage or more importantly, lead the organization through each phase. The phases are “Wait and See,” “Constructive Friction,” and “Change State.”


The first phase is called “Wait and See.” It is a phase of constructive friction and change state. During this phase, the majority of the organization will sit back and see if leadership is truly serious about the change. As the leader progresses through change the organization will challenge him either overtly or covertly until they see a level of commitment. As this is occurring, friction will begin to rise.


The second phase is called “Constructive Friction.” To the untrained eye, it could look like the organization is falling apart. It will be less productive at this stage. The friction will increase until you reach a critical mass of 30% or more affected individuals buying into the new way. This is when the constructive friction begins to drop, and productivity is at its lowest. If leadership wavers and does not keep moving ahead as this critical mass is achieved, the chances of success are very slim. In fact, the chance of making another change with the same leadership team is highly unlikely, because that team has lost its credibility within the organization.


This then leads to the third phase, “Change State.” If leadership has led the organization well and has pushed through and exceeded critical mass, then productivity will improve as the constructive friction declines. Assuming that leadership has made constructive choices, productivity will be better than before, yet some friction will continue. This is because the leadership team has set an expectation of execution and the organization will be expecting more things to change going forward. This is a good thing, as it will make the next steps in the improvement effort a little easier to execute.


So, you ask, how do you make change stick? In the most simple of terms, it starts at the top. At its core, change leadership is all about recognizing that it will not be easy and having the willingness to push through the pain to get to the other side. It takes commitment and vision and the energy to stay the course. Can you get this out of a book? Yes you can. Will the book ensure success? Perhaps, but I highly doubt it. The book will not be there when you - the leader - are faced with the organizational and personal challenges that will come your way.

At the end of the day it is all about experience, expectation management, and commitment to change. It is about leadership.