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Something like 4 million people have looked at this video http://tinyurl.com/2rzrn9. In case it takes more views than that to saturate the You Tube market I give you the link. It is about education, the future (told in 2006) and a whole bunch of fun and intriguing facts. You will also quickly see it is about how things around us change- our environment, our resources, our tools and our capabilities.
And, I have to give this plug, it is an awesome, simple, clear use of black and color.
This is one of the best media presentations I have seen in the way it rolls out information, is fun, has no fluff and uses all of the screen wisely (which to me means lots of space). It uses the space with movement, stillness, appearance of important items at the right time (and not too fast and not too glaring) and, again, color.
Now for the editorial comment-
Juxtapose this video with the way change management is presented and rolled out.
Certainly I will give up the black (not truly a color anyway) but not color in general. Color can be used to categorize communications, illustrate emotion (the whole red is fire, blue is cool strength thing), differentiate timelines, place things in an exact spot (with a relation to things around it) and just plain make things more interesting. Which introduces another aspect of the word color- the commentator kind. CM is typically colorless (maybe due to the automatic assumption that people say no before yes). Start out with a clean lack of color (white) or all color (black) slate and add or take away to build interest, increase attention and make business and change a little more like real life. Yes I mean that metaphorically, but as you can see in the video it works literally for presentations too.
Technorati Tags: Big Picture, change communications, communicate, Communications, engagement, Examples, Garrett Gitchell, vision to work
An easy change scenario-
The organization will at some point move a performance system from paper based to online access (say into an SAP module). The money and energy is not there for the technical transfer (and the change that goes with it). There is the ability to address the system itself. There are grumblings from stakeholders about the ties between measures, performance and rating (especially against others in similar but different functions). The icing on the cake is a sudden realization from executives that there is both room and need for “enhancement” (yesterdays blog word for change http://horizontalchange.com/2010/08/the-adult-bad-word/).
The approach is straight forward. The components-
- An understanding of the framework for the future software
- An explanation of what the performance system is for and what it should accomplish
- A deep and broad swath of data, perspective (good and not so) and idea gathering
- Potentially benchmarking of other companies
- A clear end state description of the system in action from the stakeholders perspective
To be able to run through these components well ahead of the software implementation is a dream come true for a change agent. It gives a very real chance to construct (or tweak or reconstruct) a system that feeds the objectives of the business, supports core values and makes it clear what works to be rewarded and what does not. With the right kind of feedback from stakeholders the solution can be the best of the current turned into an efficient and fair system and process.
You, no doubt, see many ways this will not be easy…
Odds are good that functions have fertilized the daisies (http://tinyurl.com/2cgbkpz for my organic change blog post) to the point where cross functional comparisons are apples to oranges. They are most likely attached to their way.
An inherent difficulty with performance rewards is the fact that one pool is divided in some way. Across the board pay raises are not common. In short not everyone can get an “A” no matter how hard they try. In every rating meeting I have attended there is also the edge from one level to the next, say high potential to not. Each of the leaders want their people to make the cut above the edge. In their justifications they often stray from fair comparisons (which can be remedied in the re-tweak of the process and measures).
They key for this type of “easy” change is to understand how the current system is viewed, and reacted to, by the stakeholders and then fashion a structure and process that has measures that will be acceptable. If there is also clarity about the reason for the performance system in the first place (that’s not flippant, it is amazing how much time is spent in this area with negligible effect).
Make it make sense and make it work- Easy Change.
Technorati Tags: business objectives, change excercise, Examples, Garrett Gitchell, stakeholders, vision to work
Your stakeholders are most likely frozen with eyes wide open thanks to the last couple of turbulent and less than promising years.
Think of the deer transfixed by the headlights. They are not exactly scared; they do not seem to be curious; they are spell bound. Honk the horn and they do not move. Blink the lights, the same. Turn off the lights and they stand there wondering what to do, with their attention fixated as though by a spell (one of the definitions of transfixed- here are some others http://tinyurl.com/2cn5cmq).
As a C level leader what to do?
- Acknowledge
- Sum up your organizations recent past
- Leverage the good
- Own up to the bad
- Describe the future
- Create and manage a transition period
Acknowledge
Whether or not any given individual found themselves in the glaring lights does not matter. We have all seen, heard or been touched by the nasty spell of economic downturn. That must be acknowledged. Since you, as a leader, are part of the herd too, some of your own personal examples might help. Acknowledgement does not mean a continuation of negative and pessimistic perspectives. You must ease yourself out of the headlights and look ahead.
The Past
As in the last, let’s say, two years.
Odds are you tightened the purse strings, your are lean, maybe you even had some time for retrospection and introspection on an organizational level. If you were smart you took advantage of the slowdown. Put that all together in a message and sum it up in a tidy package as if you and the organization have already moved past that spot into a positive and more profitable future.
The Good
Is most likely represented in cold numbers to show smart consolidation. Tread lightly here since most stakeholders will not see the good in anything from the recent past (unless they owned it, then they will appreciate the connection). The best way to transition from difficult situations is to look at how the time was managed. If individually or collectively as an organization you did what you could then there will be good. If you are the deer or you have let the herd stand in the road for a long time…
Own up
There are plenty of times when we do what we can and what we think is right, practical and responsible only to find in hindsight we were on the wrong track. Use that hindsight to your advantage to illustrate not what could have been but why your process got you to where you are. Doing this well will give you a foundation for process and structure improvements to tag onto initiatives tomorrow.
New End States
Your first instinct in transitioning out of yesterday and into tomorrow is probably to illustrate a clear vision. Be careful here. You are likely to articulate a vision you wish for. In between is the one you want. Better to dig into the one you need. By you I mean literally you, but also the organization and its individuals. Think and communicate in terms of practical end states. Heavily load your change management front end to come up with clear, shorter length attainable end states that have easy participation points.
Transition
The headlights were particularly glaring for the deer in your herd this time around. The car has stopped; the herd is safe. Guide them off the road slowly and smoothly. Because of the participation and engagement needed with front end change management transition is built in. The addition of inordinately positive external resources (if they also have a full quiver of empathy) can help you to time the transition period. Do not with run blindly across the road at this point. The last thing you need is for fear to turn to panic.
Every difficult situation is a leverage point for the future. The deer in the headlights is not scared, just mildly stunned. Take advantage of the fact that in the headlights, for a brief moment all is calm, centered and in the moment. The perfect foundation for positive change.
Technorati Tags: C level, CEO, change management consultant, Change Strategy, executive communications, Garrett Gitchell, strategy, vision, vision to work
Shhh. Don’t let your competition in on this- Organizational Development (OD) can be done at the same time as Change Management. Top Secret tip number two- it can be one in the same person (or small team). If you are a smart executive you will work with consultants who see this as part of their role (if you know my writings this is where the hint comes in- we are not talking Big 3 here [it is still 3 isn’t it?]).
Executive Development
No matter the intensity of the change role for an external consultant there are always stray hours in between that can be used to coach and guide executive development. On one of my recent engagements I let Director and Senior Director leaders know I was available for my hour and a quarter drive in the morning and evening to the client site. On a long engagement (in this case 9 months) there is a lot of that time. Enough so that I was able to develop simple coaching plans around the leaders role in change and guide them through skill and competency development. I personally consider this a stealth value add for my own clients.
Training
Design is a very important part of communicating change. With a little extra effort (and the ability, competencies and knowledge to teach) the CM can build skills for Manager level team leads around the design, organization and dissemination of information. The same goes for project management. There are countless one on one sessions in every large change between the external CM and internal stakeholders and line level leaders. Well thought out (by you the client and the external) these interchanges can have components of skill development- the skills which you, of course, uncovered in your initial data gathering and development of the end state description.
Process
A good trusted advisor high level CM can be your executive eyes and ears (as well as right hand) to the organization. Unless the current initiative is specifically addressing process you may not want to, under cover, change it. You can however cull helpful tidbits from the change exchange that happens quickly and through less layers with your external agent. Given the chance to be an “undisclosed source” most stakeholders will readily give ideas, perspective and input that no amount of organizational suggestion boxes will ever uncover.
Structure
Repeat above surveillance for structure. Process is how tasks play out and how people interact. Structure is the support, tools and reporting. The two together always have a treasure trove of secrets that can be gleaned.
Your own development and introspection
This one is the trickiest and usually requires a 007 level external. They are your trusted advisor. Trust can come from transparency and honesty. What better way to develop that than to trade suggestions back and forth for improvement and enhancement. You have a chance to be each others consultant. Unlike the real spy game you should both stay on the same side (no double agents in this relationship).
As an executive do not miss the chance to build organizational development into your change process and interactions. The current environment looks to be external resource heavy for quite some time. Make sure the transition to a better balance of internal and external is part of your change strategy.
Technorati Tags: Big Picture, business objectives, Buyer, CEO, change awareness, change management consultant, Executive, Garrett Gitchell, Value, vision to work
A peer of mine asked me the other day what is the best way to save a CM initiative put on hold. The question fits well as a sum up of the last two years- at least here on the US west coast. I have had time set for contracts that were then reneged, had conversations and “interviews” that were obviously fishes for approach and information with no intention of going forward, been asked in and then waited and then asked in for the same role and then had the role disappear.
Blame it on the economy maybe, but, I think, stalls, restarts, delays and “on holds” are always going to happen with projects in general and especially with the change component. Except for the fishing (if you are a client who does this shame on you- Our time is less valuable than yours?) these things will happen.
The peer scenario to him seemed like bad news. Things were going great then the brakes were put on with no definitive start back up time. Ah, but this is good in a lot of ways. First he was not asked to leave or let go (happens all the time- the reason at Vision to Work we have an expectation of upfront invoicing). And second he was not given another role, simply told to “wait”. Perfect.
Assess
Now would be the time in this scenario to asses the change process up to this point. I tend to question the value (partly because of validity) of questionnaires, this is when they are valuable. Assess whether or not there is a better understanding of the change process and the role of change management within initiatives and the organization as a whole. Assess stakeholders reaction to you in general as the person in the change role.
Lay the Framework for Sustainability
Use the assessment information and a new chance to dialogue, with the time to get it right, to build a structure that can make pieces of the change process repeatable. Look at where you are with the current change and see if you can get what has been done so far to stick. Continue the dialogue by illustrating change management’s influence in sustaining the change.
Develop Leadership
Part of the foundation for change that sticks is leadership. Leadership is needed to make the transition to the new and continues to be necessary to carry on the positive effects of the change. If you had good leaders to start this initiative, lucky you. If not you are now responsible for helping to build them so that your restart is “locked and loaded” with leadership resources. Now then is the time for seminars around change and the ability to influence and guide others through the process.
Build Collateral
Like any good consultant take “beach time” and build tools and collateral for this time or the next time around. Booklets, presentations, PDF’s, eBooks can all come in handy for both the restart and the current potential development environment.
As I have said in previous posts Change Management on a grand scale is not just about guiding individual projects. It is about the overall connection between the work of individuals and ideas/strategy. With this assumption and perspective CM becomes tightly connected to and at times responsible for OD, training, executive development, communications and collaboration.
My peer friend above was given a gift.
When you are given time to build these areas separate from the pressure and constraints of tight timelines, by all means, use the time!
Technorati Tags: Buyer, Change Design, change excercise, Fees, Garrett Gitchell, horizontal change management
Seems to so clearly make sense. Yet is confusing and sometimes hard to explain, because it means many things (to many people and perspectives). So to borrow from Dictionary.com http://tinyurl.com/2ep67zz
1. to bring about or succeed in accomplishing, sometimes despite difficulty or hardship: She managed to see the governor. How does she manage it on such a small income?
This would be the overcoming status quo, addressing internal politics inclusion and non-inclusion choices, this would be moving things and people forward where others have failed, this is the big picture of overcoming obstacles. On a small scale it is all the small meetings with “the governor” (to borrow from the definition) that manage change in little increments.
2. to take charge or care of: to manage my investments.
This is the leadership factor. With CM it comes out of educating, building credibility, highlighting change as a growth factor, communicating with transparency, interacting with empathy and shining a light on both business goals and individuals. Negotiating obstacles and seeing ahead are the “take care of” parts.
3. to dominate or influence (a person) by tact, flattery, or artifice: He manages the child with exemplary skill.
Change agents are typically subtle in their steering of momentum and motivation (if they are good) and that is influential. Disregarding history and the effect of performance systems is the dominate part. Tact and flattery are the yin and yang of CM.
4. to handle, direct, govern, or control in action or use: She managed the boat efficiently.
This is the project management piece. Having a true PM as a partner who resides in the same spot in the organization (or at least has equal influence) gives the handling, the directing, the controlling (in a good way to make to do lists easier on stakeholders) of actions. And in the case of technology transformations the use.
5. to wield (a weapon, tool, etc.).
There are times when a poke and a prod, and the more drastic firing of the weapon, is the solution to managing change. Wielding tools with the above tact and flattery is the long term change solution.
6. to handle or train (a horse).
Certainly there are individuals and teams… and functions and executives and boards and… who need to be handled- a little like a green broke horse. Enter training. And perhaps quiet whispers and gentle prods.
7. Archaic . to use sparingly or with judgment, as health or money;
This is the view of the executive who thinks people should just do their job. A view that causes sparing use of money, time and IMHO judgment. Well look at that- it is an archaic definition. 
Technorati Tags: change awareness, change management, Garrett Gitchell, organizational change, vision to work
The most important competency for a change practitioner is sense of time.
“…understanding current change capability and capacity requires the horizon of a CM to extend back into the past.
And ensuring sustainability requires a perspective further into the future.” Gail Severini from blog post.
Thanks Gail. This is pulled out of a longer post focused on the difference between CM and PM practitioners, but may be the key to a lot of what change management is about.
The Present
In a way does not exist. It is gone at the speed of thought. A Change practitioner must understand the concept of present. For it is in those spots, those frozen moments where change happens and where it gets recorded. The present is a moving line that represents completion and transition. The present IS status quo. Present is a reality that exists in each stakeholders head. It is something to be acknowledged. It is a grounding spot to illustrate before, transition and after.
The Past
Very much exists- even though it shouldn’t. Because after all it is gone. Where is does exist is within each stakeholders realm of comfort. The past is predictable, immovable- like a concrete foundation. The past is visible to everyone, even futurists. Its negative is the difficulty of erasal. Its positive is as measurement. Numbers and facts come from the past. Predictions and plans arise from those numbers.
The Future
May or may not happen. It will arrive in some way, but like the present is quickly gone. What is interesting about the future is that it is the past transitioned through the present to again be the past. The typical mistake here for CM is to see the future as a transition from the present (think current and future state). Remember the past does not go away. So the future in terms of change should be the end state arrived at through the lens of the past, the capacity of the present and an eye to the next future.
Where does this “most important competency” come in then?
A CM practitioner must be able to recognize and articulate the past (in all its glory and stranglehold), put it in perspective and then feed that assimilation into a dialogue and description of the end state. They must not let the past or the present hold the future hostage.
They leverage that with their innate sense of what happens when you tweak these three views of time in any given direction. Clients should expect change agents to quickly recognize what will happen when different levers are pulled, or pushed. Change agents will know the relative resistance power of timing, demands, resources, communication, collaboration etc.
CM’s, if they are good, know there will be stakeholders living in the past (sounds bad, but not necessarily), intent on checking things off in the present (even if the list is twice as long as it needs to be) or travelling at the speed of dreams (thanks Jimmy Buffet for that one). They all stand on the timeline of change.
You might say the Change Management Practitioner is the driver of the DeLorean, with the capability to travel back and forth in time and across the future, separate from the stakeholders and the initiative.
…and wouldn’t you know I saw a DeLorean for sale the other day…
Technorati Tags: Big Picture, change awareness, change management consultant, End State, future state, Garrett Gitchell, vision, vision to work
Having worked under six methodologies not including my own approach I am beginning to wonder why the heavy emphasis on deliverables? Not solutions, results and goal attainment but paperwork (literally or electronic). Budgets typically fall well short of the needed expenditure for CM/external resources. To use those expensive, under-budgeted for resources for paperwork makes no sense.
My fly on the wall perspective of both those internal and other consulting firms trying to be noticed is this-
Deliverables are consulting firms justification. The more paperwork, the more report outs, presumably (in their minds), the better they look.
Deliverables are the internal path to covering tracks. The more you record, the easier it is to pass the buck later. The more you report out on the more it looks like you worked your tail off (in truth it was on the creation of the deliverable, but no one seems to bring that up). Internally deliverables are also a way to police and micro manage.
And so who are the deliverables for?
Sometimes they are used to report to executives- who I know for a fact prefer dialogue to PowerPoint. Sometimes they are a requirement of a methodology or process. Sometimes they are created to try to prove a point or sell a new idea. I am not sure this answers who they are for though… I tend to think the answer is the person who created them (which makes the expenditure of time even more senseless).
What Should deliverables be for?
As a map to the next steps. Methodologies heavy on paperwork usually have assessments and then recommendations in two separate documents. In my own approach I gather information, find areas unseen by the client (or difficult to see as an internal) and layer that over the path to the end state. Recommendations are ongoing. Assessments are a constant dialogue. The deliverable is a living, breathing, malleable guide to tasks, process and “be aware of’s”.
Just ask yourself this- Is your change process always ahead of your deliverables? Which is easier slowing the change or reducing deliverables? One of them has to give, because organizations do not have the money or the patience for both.
Technorati Tags: Big Picture, business objectives, Garrett Gitchell
How often do you find yourself spending what you consider too much time installing or putting together the things in your life?
I found myself there today with the installation of a garage hoist (really cool to push a button and have your stuff just magically make its way up into the ceiling- nice end state). As a change manager I know a process made of steps to get to an ending should be clear, understandable and maybe even enjoyable. Thanks to some really weak and un-thought out directions I have found myself swearing through the opposite too many times- add today and it is waaaay too many.
Is it up or down? Do the two holes go on the left or the right? This bolt or that bolt? Is there anything I need to know before I start?
As it happened today I installed not one hoist but two.
A little like a second engagement with the same client. And in the same way the parts had been improved (lag screws instead of ridiculous hex head screws- 4” long and bendable like putty) but the process, and the directions, were still faulty.
What does all this have to do with change?
Directions
All change has at some point ,directions. They may be as literal as a guide to keystrokes or as vague as hidden expectations from a leader. Those directions worded (or pictured) and/or delivered poorly can create real obstacles to change. Real unnecessary obstacles. (There were a few times today when I thought, this is just dumb, I should have used cabinets). A little like, “whose dumb idea from corporate was this?”. Don’t let yourself have a good idea with a clear end state and then use a bad map on poor pavement.
So-
- Use pictures, graphs, images when they can really pinpoint something
- Put everything in context to the preceding and the following
- Put time (knowing it is both a deadline and a constraint) on things when you know it is possible
- If you can try out your directions first by all means do so (including those “marching orders”)
- If it is technical in nature please include someone with design sense
- Use space in pictures, for relationships on time lines and when you are presenting/communicating (because there are always directions built in to those interchanges)
- If there is something strange up ahead call it out early (and suggesting someone “read through the directions first” does not count- two reads of a bad explanation do not make clarity)
- Be careful how many bullet points you use- I had to stick that in there- a little like telling a kid No, you only get so many chances for effect
Look at your change process. See it as a journey with a series of steps. Make those steps clear. Be embarrassed when your stakeholders finish with “a pile of parts leftover”.
Technorati Tags: business objectives, change failure, Garrett Gitchell, vision to work
Change can be a fantastic renewal, a look in a different direction, an “I knew it could be this way” enlightenment. Or it can be a disruptive, unproductive, uncomfortable twisting of what felt fine (thank you). And it can be a time and money drain of already vulnerable systems and cultures.
Let’s start with a Good List
- It is a great way to get rid of all that slows things down
- It is an excellent way to reinvent
- Change does feel good when it makes sense
- For business change can radically increase productivity (after a transition period)
- Change can create energy that was not there before
- Change is good for competition- internally and externally
and Follow with the Bad
- Change can happen simply for the sake of change (bad)
- Change often brings out nasty behaviors
- It shines a light on individual and organizational deficiencies (actually that can be good)
- Change can feel really bad
- Change can grind productivity to a halt (and hang in the transition period forever)
- It can create fortresses around silos thick to impenetrable
The Ugly
- Since change and change management are typically misunderstood and based on some questionable historical approaches it is EXPENSIVE
- Change management done wrong is time consuming (see last bullet)
- The change process rarely brings in revenue or instant cost savings (The change might but you have to get to the end state first)
- It can bring out the worst in people
and some more GOOD
so as to finish on a light note
- Change Management as a broad process can improve operations
- can provide for unique development opportunities
- can build camaraderie
- same for loyalty
- can spur innovation
- can be an excellent investment in the future (if the process is set up to be repeatable or at least reusable)
- biased I might be, but change is Fun! (as is any challenge and growth in life and business)
Technorati Tags: Garrett Gitchell, vision to work
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