Embracing Complexity: A New Paradigm for Effective Change Management

Spanish Version

The change industry has failed and succeeded, but change consultants have seldom known why. What worked in one context failed miserably in the next.??What worked fine in theory failed in practice, and what worked in practice failed to stand up to rigorous theory.

The source of the problem is a fundamental misunderstanding of change as predictable and controllable.

If the industry doesn't change how we approach change, is it worth pushing change into current organizations worldwide, or should we start thinking about creating new ones?

What? - Change in Complexity

If we consider the following premises valid in complexity regarding how to approach change, what needs to be changed in change management?

The assumptions about change in complexity I want to offer as true, at least during this edition, are:

• Change is happening at many different levels all around us at the same time.
• The levels are connected and influence each other in ways we cannot predict.
• A small change in one place can trigger large changes in distant places.
• It takes many small and medium-sized adjustments before a significant change can occur, yet the exact number or timing of these adjustments cannot be predicted.
• When we've seen one change process, we've seen only that one change process, and each one is unique.
• We can never predict the next shift's exact time, place, and shape.
• We cannot know all the forces that influence the change.
• It looks like nothing's happening for a very long time, and then, all at once, the change breaks loose.

These assumptions might seem odd, but they apply to natural phenomena such as avalanches, earthquakes, boiling water, tsunamis, chronic illness, climate change, seed germination, melting ice, embryo development, and molecular change.

Various disciplines offer unique perspectives on describing and understanding this phenomenon. Depending on the viewpoint, it may involve triggers, thresholds, tipping points, activation energies, self-organized criticality, power law dynamics, the Pareto principle, inverse log functions, scale-free structures, resonance patterns, or dissipative structures.

In open systems, we reside and operate under various factors and extensive interconnections. To effectively assist our clients, we must comprehend and endorse a fresh approach to change that accepts these assumptions.

So What? - Practical implications for change agents

Through my experience of enabling individuals and organizations to navigate change, especially in the Agile domain, I've discovered recurring practices that surface when interventions effectively foster change within complex environments. Here are seven of these practices, listed in no particular order.

• It is easy. Change is easy in a complex system. It is always happening. Human systems are constantly in motion.??As change consultants, our challenge is understanding current patterns and potential for change well enough to help our clients succeed and be sustainable.

• Vision doesn't create change. In complex environments, having a clear vision is not very helpful.??A future vision can distort our current perspective, which is crucial for adapting to change. Instead of focusing on a vision as an end goal, having shared intentions and hopes is better to guide how we perceive, understand, and influence the patterns around us.
• Differences are better than Consensus. In complex change, similarity provides stability and anchors individuals and groups, while focusing on significant differences drives change and accelerates the development of new patterns for individuals, groups, and institutions.
• Nowhere are leaders, unless they are now here. In the midst of complex change, every individual is an integral part of the process. While leaders' inquiry is broad and powerful, every person in the organization plays a crucial role. Success in complex change is achieved when everyone remains attentive and adaptable.

• Time is not a line: it's about today, not tomorrow or yesterday. The past is important only if it shapes present patterns. The potential of the future matters only if it influences present decisions. Simple inquiries are effective in complex times because they focus on where change exists—in this place and moment.

• Best practices are a sales pitch. Any list of best practices emerged in a particularly complex system with a unique combination of history, circumstance, goals, resources, challenges, people, and any other unique success factor you can imagine. Why would anyone suspect that what worked there would necessarily work in another complex system with a unique combination of unimaginable factors?
• The game isn't over until it's over. The support provided by change consultants in the change process begins long before clients hire them and continues long after they are gone. The most valuable service change consultants can offer their clients is helping them utilize their past potential and develop the ability to adapt for the future while accompanying them on their journey.

Now What? - to change or not to change (create)

In this novel form of transformation, the most logical action is to pay attention to emerging patterns and engage in inquiry. To impact change in a complex situation, you must recognize the pattern of current events in the present moment and all accessible locations. You'll need to look over the observations and understand them in practical ways. You must bravely take action to alter the pattern. After that, you can restart the cycle to observe the outcomes of your action and other evolving circumstances.

It might appear easy and confront your perception of yourself and the expectations of your clients, but if you aim to operate efficiently in complex change, you have no alternative. I firmly believe that if you want to facilitate change in complex environments, this novel approach isn’t just the best thing you can do; it is the only thing you can do.

If you are an experienced change consultant:

• What does that journey look like?
• How can you integrate complex change into your practice?