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Have you every done the kid safety drill? You know, the one where you get down on the ground and crawl around looking for potential danger? Of course, kid that I am at heart, I rolled, slid and somersaulted too… The world is entirely different down there. That, for awhile anyway, is the world of a toddler.
There is a theory in quantum mechanics that it is possible the future influences the present (and possibly the past). I dug into it in a recent Discover Magazine article. And did my best to understand the true meaning for quantum mechanics, but big picture mentality that I have… I got to wondering how that might look for the change process. It could mean there are multiple versions of result and effect. Basically versions of success and failure. Successful establishment of process and an adaptation of culture to speed change if the future has anything to do with it should be the hand that pulls in the present. I re-formatted my computer yesterday and instead of using my imaged backup I chose to start from scratch. Which seeded a train of thought about Chosen Change. As individuals there are countless opportunities to choose change- jobs, hobbies, friends, networks, environment, etc all have the potential to be tweaked, molded and turned upside down. The more that is upended at once the greater the possibility of different perspective, approach and, possibly, results. While virtually impossible in most cases there are large systems that would benefit from upending chosen change- (caveat US and California viewpoint) the educational system, the health system, the legal system, the political system, fill in your own.
Or at least allowed to overstay their welcome. Elephants are big, intimidating and comforting all at once. Elephants you want on your side to protect you. Here is why they are allowed to stay in organizations-
I find that the elephant is often called out by stakeholders. Those elephants in the room are usually obvious to all. What is interesting, and an important consideration in approaching change, is that they are often valued and protected. Because when they are, an avenue for avoiding change is reinforced. The elephant will make the change impossible… and we are not going to touch the elephant (a nice circular, insular and protective argument).
Change Management communication has four phases. Idea communication Awareness Project Communications Gauging success idea communication- This is the time that the original idea goes through the process of matching to corporate strategy and connecting to the experience, perspective and knowledge of stakeholders. Obviously not everything can be communicated. A sensible level of transparency during this stage will be rewarded in later phases with increased participation and productivity. awareness-
These are the core phases of a change management initiative (I know not what you are used to seeing). Idea Engagement Big Picture/Vision Engagement PMO approach Disbanding
Idea- Every change starts with an idea. The idea can develop into change. For that to happen a connection to both stakeholders and the business strategy of the organization will have to be made. The idea needs to become a clear picture of a spot to head to. Engagement- Successful change management communication informs stakeholders of the time and place for their work. Time- is the relationship of stakeholder work and participation to the total amount of time for the initiative, the time frame of the phase(s) they are included in and the period they will need to accomplish their tasks. Place- is the relationship of that work to participation and tasks that occur before and after their own (and possibly a connection of importance to the bigger picture). Well of course this is simple time and project management right? If we communicate what is happening then we are doing a good job. Each layer of growth in a firm typically adds a layer of titles; each new title has the potential to create a new silo. Eventually it becomes difficult to move the organization fast enough to grow again. If from the first stage of growth someone is responsible for horizontal connections (collaboration, communication, training across functions, diagonal mentoring etc) your culture will build around working together on the companies business objectives.
At the End State lies the alignment of vision, process and people/behavior change to business objectives. There you will find a Pot of Gold full of capital for the next initiative-if you can navigate the change path. It is winding, meandering and typically only the first leg is clear. To smooth out the journey it helps to visualize the last leg of the trip and to be clear about the end state. Like a stream down a hill the path will then appear.
What is the End State? The ideal way to lay out a change management process is to come to a description of the end state and work back toward the present. This gives a view of what will have changed to get there. Knowing what will change can help determine the resources, the new behaviors and any new structure to the organization. That will then guide the division of phases leading to the project streams within those phases and finally the task associated with those streams.
But that is typically not what happens.
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