Navigating Change
We are in uncertain times, it can feel overwhelming, whether you are an Executive responsible for the success of your organization, and individual contributor or indeed a person looking for their next opportunity.
I have over the years developed and refined a change enablement toolkit designed to support people and organizations move from where they are to where they need to be. I share this article to support you on your journey. If you find it interesting and useful do reach out, I am always interested in hearing from people whether we have worked together before or not. If you are wrestling with something pertaining to this article, I always have an opinion and sometimes a unique insight.
Today I would like to talk about five areas of the overarching arena that is change, they will by definition be at quite a high level.
The first is Objectives we have to know where we are going in order to make progress. I learnt during my relatively short stint in the military that knowing the objective is vital to the completion of the mission and if the mission has to change then we adapt and adjust. However as my Chief Petty Officer once yelled at me "Even the wrong objective is better than sitting on your **** and doing nothing!"
Do we have clarity on the things we can be clear about (one of the many things I love about Paul's picture above, is the lens can shift). Have we clear and easily articulatable goals for the team and a sense of what a WOW and unhelpful outcome looks like. Have we created a list of areas we will NOT BE focusing on. In my experience the Out of Scope list is absolutely as important as the In Scope list.
The next topic is People, remember change is a people topic. "People before Things" is a useful mantra in life and organizational change. Remember if your stated commitment is "We are a people organization...." and decide to treat a group of your employees poorly, or more likely, simply do not seek to mitigate impacts. The team you retain, even those involved in those decisions, will remember and know that next go around it will likely be their turn. What is the actual impact of the change on the individuals involved and is there anything we might do to mitigate that impact? Is a great question.
I have been through a number of organizational downsizings and had more than once an organizational representative state, "I wanted to have a conversation with you, but the organization forbade me." Usually about quite non controversial topics, the individual then continues however you are really really important and I need to count on you going forward.
You can make all the statements you like about caring for people, however you will be judged based on the actions you took. We all understand that if there is not a requirement for a team or an individual, they need to leave, however the how is just as important as the why and the when. Interestingly, the how it was done, and the feelings that engendered often has way more impact both on those it was done to and on those that have to pick up the slack after the process is complete.
We also need a clear plan of action for those that are remaining in the organization. What do they have to do differently in the future? How will we measure and reward it and what are the consequences of non compliance? Are great questions and lead us into our next topic.
Maps have been the way human beings have navigated and understood the world since the invention of writing implements. When navigating change it is important to create appropriate maps that can be easily shared with the them to keep them on track.
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The map is not the territory however the very act of creating the map will force the team to engage and capture the essence for what is changing. Many change project leads stumble as they make individual decisions which seem OK in isolation however are not aligned with the overall change map. Having a simple mechanism to decide does choosing A or B make it more or less likely we achieve our objective. This takes us back to the opening section, we are unlikely to be successful if our objective is simply survive the upheaval. What is the outcome that takes us forward into the future stronger and fitter than today?
The fourth topic for this article is Momentum in his wonderful book "Good to Great" Jim Collins talks about the momentum required to turn good organizations into great ones. He is talking about the momentum they had and how each action added to the spinning of the fly wheel. It seems to me that this is also true for each individual change project. How we maintain momentum is a critical element. I read all the time how getting executives to say positive things about the project or change is "super" important.
It seems to me even more important is to prevent individuals from leaping into the street in front of the cart we just got rolling and getting it to stop so we can. Turn left or right or indeed try and get it going again. Techniques like "Yes and" are specifically targeted on keeping whatever momentum we have whilst adding to the journey.
This does not mean we do not challenge whether the project is going in the right direction. However I will share two approaches from a major transformation project I was part of. The first was the two years where we paused projects and initiatives for review over and over again. Each time the team picking up the project once the review complete, across over 100 individual projects probably 1,000 reviews over the two years. So much time spent revieing and re-engaging, then a new CEO was appointed his approach, I am conducting a review 30 days from now any project not demonstrably adding value as per the change map I have outlined for you will be terminated. No pausing delivery or review meetings just through yourself behind the projects that move us forward. Sure enough 30 days later more than half of projects cancelled and resources realigned to value enhancing areas.
Have a plan to create movement, build momentum, and maintain it.
The final topic for this article is remaining open to the Possibilities. I have routinely seen transformation projects fail to take advantage of changes and opportunities. I am a project manager by background so all to aware of the dangers of Scope Creep and the associated loss of control. However, if we have a clear map we should be able to avail ourselves of the incremental opportunities that the Universe continually sends our way.
Is this an opportunity to provide incremental value, or learnings for the team, or a potential short cut? We do not want to dive off into the bush to no purpose, however whilst maintaining momentum how can we take what just happened and use it to the advantage of the team and organization.
If you have read this far thank you, if you are interested in taking a Change Readiness assessment here is the link:
Either way I wish you all the very best for your, day, week, month, year and indeed out into the future.