Change needs to change

Towards a new approach for Change Management and Capability Building.

All around the world, we see large organisations carrying out company-wide big business transformations. A recent Mc Kinsey survey showed that more than 80% of companies had undertaken digital transformation in the past 5 years. We can see this trend accelerating as the effects of implementing technology -and the danger of losing competitive advantage- becomes more and more apparent for businesses. By the hand of the Digital Transformation there are many others simultaneously happening inside companies. A good example is the Agile Transformation where companies are changing processes, tools and ways of working to become flatter, more innovative and get closer to the consumer.

Unfortunately, not all transformations can be referred to as being genuine success. According to latest statistics 70% of change initiatives underperform or fail to produce their intended value. Why? Well, there are many reasons that can be attributed to transformations failing at scale. Nevertheless, the infallible and most common “scapegoat” recently being use to justify less than stellar results is: Change Management. Leaders share their frustration through comments like “We don’t understand why, despite all efforts and resources invested, people still keep doing things the old way”, “The project failed because no one really understands how to do Change”. I believe leaders are right. Embedding new capabilities-the ability to do things in a different way- and managing change, is by far the most enduring bottleneck of any business transformation today.

Why managing change has become so difficult? Well, let’s start by mentioning the obvious. The 21st century is an age of unprecedent change, a fact that can daunt anyone. The business environment has become a ground of perpetual and continuous change. Every day, despite the increasing numbers of initiatives failing to meet the long-term objectives, another CEO sets in motion another big business transformation. Moreover, (and with good reason) people now tend to associate large-scale organisational change inititatives with headcount reductions, rather than growth. People are not only scared and resistant, but tired of changing all the time. What we are experiencing in the work environment is a collective change fatigue.

Now, let’s move to the less obvious reason why managing change has become so hard: Change needs to change. For quite long time companies have use a variety of change management models, theories, tactics and processes; all which were designed for environments far more stable and predictable than what companies are experiencing today.  To meet the challenge of managing change effectively and successfully today, businesses need to change the traditional approach of change. Here are what I believe are the five fundamentally flaw assumptions of the “old ways” of managing change that need to change.

1.      The results of change management can only be seen over time. 

Wrong. Putting in place the right capabilities, competencies, and mindset should not take ages. In a fast-changing environment, change can and needs to happen fast. Probably the assumption that people don’t change from one day to another is right, but that doesn’t mean it needs to take entire years. Business leaders need to see not only that the portfolio of change programs are advancing successfully fast, but ensure that individuals and teams are moving and adapting from the current situation to the new one, quick.

2.      Employees are targets rather than participatory agents.

Wrong. People experiencing change should and can be shaping change in parallel while living it. Communication campaigns and training courses are important enablers, but change needs to happen during work and in real life. Embeding new capabilities needs to be done through “surgical interventions” at the (MTM) Moments that Matter, as part of a change journey. Interventions are about people understanding and learning, by doing, in the moment where it needs to be done.

3.      Change is rational and not behavioural.

Wrong. Change cannot be done ignoring the human psychology and social factors. At the end, change management is all about changing peoples’ behaviours and habits. It needs to consider the personal impact on those affected (with psychology, neuro-science and behavioural theory involved) as well as their journey towards working, thinking and behaving in new ways.

4.      “Big bang”, “top-down” and “one-size fit all” approaches still work.

Wrong. The workplace has become so diverse and complex that even for large-scale change initiatives, change needs to be targeted, focalized and personalized. Change management needs to start small, bottom-up, and then, spread fast all over the place.

5.      Change is a traditional, old-fashion and kind of artisanal discipline.

Wrong. Change has become more scientific and digital than ever before (although I don’t want to lie… it also has a little bit of "art" in it). Technology and big-data now can bring valuable information to make change management simpler, faster and more effective. Just to mention two very positive uses of data analytics could be: 1) the identification of change agents through (ONA)- Organizational Network Analysis and 2) the measurement of change impact through real-time "pulse check" surveys.

In a nutshell, I believe not only Change Management works, but in fact it can now work as better than ever. Businesses can increase their success rates for change programs and achieve their overall organizational transformation ambitions, but the first step is to accept the fact that change needs to change.