Facilitating Change in Organizations

Note that I did not use either of the terms “manage” or “lead” change. I think one can “plan” change, but in my experience few projects ever go as planned. Unexpected things happen, unplanned things happen, life happens. I believe a “facilitator of change” is the professional most likely to achieve results accepted and adopted by the vast majority of the organization.

I was reading some articles that equate change with life and that life is trail of constant changes as we encounter new experiences and knowledge and adapt. Some adaptations are easy others much more difficult. Our attitudes, beliefs, values, wisdom change over time. For most of us, there’s no rhyme or reason to our lives. It’s pretty much serendipity and zemblanity (https://tinyurl.com/6n93srz5 ) unexpected fortunate and unfortunate events and discoveries.

Yes, there are people who knew at a very young age what they wanted to do; become a doctor, nurse, professional athlete, whatever. But for most of us, the occupation or profession we chose to pursue changed as we experienced more of life. Sometimes it changed several times.

At some point, we settled. We found our niche, our life partner, our comfort zone. Once that happened, we weren’t too keen on changing very much. But changes in life and nature impacted us. They caused us to transition from stability and comfort to adjustment and adaptation. For the most part, we are unhappy making transitions. But some quickly adjust and other fight relentlessly to maintain the status quo.

Let’s use COVID 19 as an example. When we first heard about it, the then President said not to fear. It would soon fade away. It didn’t. It got worse, much worse. People’s reactions ranged from fear and isolation to scornful ignoring. It became difficult or impossible for those at the extremes to comprehend the attitudes and behaviors of their opposites. Then, a cure was discovered. By that time, it was too late. People had become frozen in their positions. The early adopters quickly became vaccinated. Others refused to get vaccinated. They became polarized.

What does it take to bring people with opposite feelings together? The simplistic answer is time and understanding each other’s points of view. ?To do that, you’ve got to be willing to hear the other side’s position with an open mind. That’s the hard part, getting people to listen with openness and empathy. It’s extremely difficult if the rhetoric from either side is biased or condescending. It’s close to impossible if the power’s-that-be start mandating.

Let’s get back to your career choice. You decide to do something that the influential people in your life believe is not in your best interest. They talk to you and try to convince you to change your mind. They don’t listen to you. Instead, they rationalize their opinions and drone on and on. Does that work? No. You just stop talking about it or seek some sort of escape. The result? Polarization, lack of empathy, and misunderstanding. In isolation, you think, “If they would just listen to my side of things,” but they don't and things can go from bad to worse.

That folks is what happens when change is introduced into organizations. People are comfortable with the situations. They know their jobs and routines. The longer things remain constant the more fixed they become. Connie Gersick calls it “deep structure.” Few people want to change just to change. There must be multiple good reasons for it because an acceptable rationale for changing varies from person to person. The reason has to benefit individuals, not just the company, customers, or some intangible called competitive advantage.

I know most of you know this stuff. It’s not new or concept shattering. My point is that to help organizations through transitions caused by change, it requires a facilitator as well as a manager (champion) and leader. The champion provides the resources, influence, and positional power to make things happen. The leader coordinates the efforts of the group of people charged with planning the change and oversees implementation. The facilitator helps everyone cope with the “people side of change.”

Of the three, the facilitator’s job is the most difficult. It is up to her/him to deal with the emotions and polarization that are stirred up by change. A good facilitator of change understands psychology, sociology, group dynamics, group processing skills, sociotechnical theory, and much more. She has years of experience engaging in change projects and dealing with the emotions that surfaced during the various stages of transitions. She is patient, calm in the face of ambiguity, and confident from experience and in her processes.

After forty-some years of facilitating change, I am still learning. One of the many lessons I’ve learned is best expressed by Eric Lynn, author of Dancing with Change, “The group knows what it needs, even if it doesn’t know that it knows.”

And to paraphrase the teachings of Gervace Bushe, Professor of Leadership and OD at the Beedie School of Business, “change results from transformational conversations that shape everyday thinking by involving more and different people who are the targets of change in the change discussions, altering how people engage with one another, and considering and inducing new perspectives, images, stories, texts, and narratives.”

You all know that transformations are best achieved by including all those impacted in the change process. I believe that the best way to do that is through process facilitation, not by managing and leading change. Those are important, essential even. But, to reiterate, an expert facilitator and OD practitioner is the professional most likely to achieve results accepted and adopted by the vast majority of the organization.?