Change.. the ultimate truth..

Few days back, I was watching a program on discovery and I was fascinated by the change approach an eagle adopts to survive strong. An eagle can live up to 70 years, but to reach this age the eagle must make the hard decision in its’ 40’s. I see no change in current organizational context. An average age of organizations across US was observed as 70 Years and the reason of getting vanished or replaced is nothing new but the adaptability quotient or ability to change.

Identifying change needs would be certainly the most cumbersome task and it needs thorough understanding of strategy, culture & capability to execute. There has to be a fine synergy with all the three elements and the success lies in the hand of Leaders who are key to find the fine balance. If it is done in an opaque way, you have a big elephant lying in the board room and wouldn’t move an inch.

A pre-requisite for a successful change is a strong and unified vision and change story. This is an integral part of building the change need. The change story must be compelling, engaging, understood and accepted across the project and executive management and key stakeholders.

The change management strategy builds on the analysis and assessment activities from the day zero phase, but elaborates the relevant topics into detailed plans, which are integrated into the master project plan. All of the change management topics should be tightly linked to the future state designs.

Today, we are surrounded by VUCA waves and as a result, technology driven disruptions are redefining the play field every 5-7 years. The rules set before VUCA times are no longer in to the strategy and life expectancy of organizations are rapidly changing downwards. Evolution of Cameras is one example where it has moved from Luxury (1980’s) to household (2000) to pocket size (mobile replacing cameras).

A pragmatic approach to manage change:

1.      Assess the project and organization readiness

2.      Design the approach

3.      Implement the plan

4.      Sustain & Reinforce the learnings

There are two major roles of Leaders in the change management. First is to manage the Sponsorship which is needed from the start of the project to provide active support and guidance, both internally in the project, but also throughout the organization. Note that sponsorship is a much more active role than it’s normally thought of.

Second role is to build capability among team members to manage the change effectively. 

While there is no perfect solution which can fit all situations, one needs to find out what's relevant and what can help business change, grow and sustain in the VUCA world.