Ideas and tools for promoting change

When People Are Ready to Act

What's the difference between changes that work and those that don't? Studies suggest that only about one-third of all major changes in organizations succeed. We wanted to know why, and this column addresses the second part of the study our firm conducted to find the answer. The first part of the survey results appeared on pp. 38-39 of the Winter 2003 issue of The Journal for Quality and Participation.

We based the survey on our assumption that four things need to be addressed during a major change: making a strong case for change, getting started, sustaining commitment, and getting back on track.

The results are based on comments made by approximately 250 people. They described major changes ranging from mergers to implementing new software systems to reorganizations. Respondents came from many types and sizes of organizations. Most of the projects they described had budgets of between $100,000 and a few million dollars.

This column focuses on two of the major areas in the study: sustaining commitment and getting back on track.

Sustaining Commitment

Sustaining commitment to a major change is difficult. It often takes months, even years, to get from planning to results. During that time, priorities can shift, attention may drift, and leadership can change. Respondents who were involved in successful changes reported that each of the following seven criteria were in place throughout the life of the project.

* Strong leadership was in place throughout the change process.

* Everyone understood his/her role in the change.

* Sufficient resources were made available to support planning and implementation.

* Clear metrics (measures of success) were used throughout the project.

* People felt ownership of the process.

* People felt ownership of the outcome.

* People were recognized for meeting goals at every major milestone.

On the other hand, respondents who were involved with changes that "made matters significantly worse" reported that their organizations did not attend to any of these criteria to a significant degree. Indeed, on a five-point rating scale where 1 equals "not at all," 3 equals "somewhat," and 5 equals "to a significant degree," not one of the respondents in this situation gave a single one of the seven criteria a "5" rating!

In general, the criteria received low ratings, but the scores for "strong leadership" were a bit different, where 33% rated it not at all (a "1" rating), 11% gave it a "2" rating, 33% said somewhat (a "3" rating), and 22% gave it a "4" rating. As previously mentioned, however, no one scored this item a "5."

Getting Back on Track

Of those who rated their changes a "stunning success," 44% said that they didn't need to worry about getting things back on track. This suggests that by attending to the other three areas, the likelihood of problems-especially resistance to change-decreases significantly.

In those instances where the successful changes did need to attend to the threat of the initiative derailing, however, a high percentage of the respondents said that they:

* Brought people together to explore the real reasons why the change was faltering.

* Had leaders who listened to people who were resisting and tried to incorporate those people's concerns.

* Treated those who opposed this change with respect.

* Used contingency plans developed during the planning stages. (About 40% of the respondents who encountered resistance indicated this approach.)

We were surprised that only 8% of the leaders were willing to admit that their actions (or perhaps their reputations) had a negative impact on this change. In fact, not one of the leaders associated with the most extreme failures admitted making any mistakes!

We noticed that respondents who reported that their changes had failed consistently had missed the opportunity to address resistance by using one of these approaches.

Summary

Looking at the entire survey, it seems clear that "making a strong case for change" is the single most important thing change agents can do. When people feel a "burning platform" under their feet -as opposed to seeing a "burning platform" out in the harbor -they want to change. Without that spur, it is very difficult to get major changes started. In many instances, having strategies to get back on track seems most important when the leaders have failed to make a strong case for change. Many otherwise potentially effective changes fail because the organization did not adhere to the relatively simple tasks associated with sustaining commitment.

Rick Maurer is an advisor on ways to lead change without migraines! He has written several books on change, including Beyond the Wall of Resistance and Why Don't You Want What I Want? For more information about the survey results visit www.beyondresistance.com.

Copyright Association for Quality and Participation Spring 2004
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