Slow death of planned change - Let's play
Changes in organizations are inevitable but not a matter of course. Almost 70% of all change efforts fail. An important reason for the failure of changes is that the old way of leading change does not fit with today's challenges of organizations. Is there an alternative? Yes: let's play!
Planned change
Planned change is a dominant approach for organizational change that has been developed in the last century. In that time the world was complex but still understandable and planned change helped in realizing changes in organizations. In this perspective leading change means that leaders create an urgency to change, build a winning coalition that manage the change, communicate the change, motivate and align people to reach the desired future, and make it stick. Change was like a well-planned trip with a clear destination and an itinerary set in advance
Many organizations have been successful in planned changes, and many failed. Multiple studies show that 70% of the planned change programs in organizations either get bogged down prematurely or fail to achieve the intended result. This is especially true for changes that focus on reinventing business propositions, international collaboration, breakthrough innovation and maximizing customer values. Goals are not achieved, policies are not implemented, customers do not experience improvement in service and quality, and employees, supervisory staff, and middle management are confused by all the change efforts. Given these outcomes the question remains why many leaders stick to planned change as a dominant approach. Is it because we are used to it and don’t know better? Or because shareholders force us to come up with clear plans, goals and results. Or is it perhaps the feeling that we are in control when we opt for a planned change approach?
Ambiguous and dynamic world
Disruptions in our current world has transformed our businesses from complex and uncertain to ambiguous and paradoxical. In this dynamic world, developments continue to influence each other, although it is unclear what the outcome will be. It seems as if everything is changing constantly, with some patterns continuing and showing a certain predictability and others suddenly emerging and prompting change. In this situation leading change as a rational and planned process is at its end. What we need now is a change approach based on interaction and a continual process of observation, adaptation and learning. Changes resemble a hiking trip through unknown terrain with players knowing and trusting each other so that they can deal with uncertainty and the unexpected.
Interactive change
One reason for interactive change occurs in a situation in which people create new realities together and learn to deal with uncertainty. This approach towards change requires the courage to confront an ambiguous situation and acknowledge tensions. Then in-depth change and innovation become possible through interaction. Language gives shape to our thoughts and thus influences our acts. We are well known with the language of rational and planned change. We talk about diagnoses, strategies and interventions. Many if these words are related to a medical model where something or someone has to be cured. To be successful in organizational change in a dynamic environment we need a new language to change the way we look at organizational change and transform the way we change organizations. The language give shape to changes in interaction is based on the metaphor of change as collaborative play.
Change as collaborative play
The play metaphor helps to initiate changes in organizations and contribute to organizational development together with players inside and outside the organization. Players in organizational change envisage the future, try to find their way in an uncertain world and make an effort to shape their future. This play metaphor is not about planned change with predefined targets; it is about leading change in a collective search process in which players work together towards transformation and innovation in their own organization. In this way the play metaphor provides a positive outlook on changing and innovating organizations as a collective process of organizational learning. Are you ready to play together in preparing your organization for the future?
Play and game
The play metaphor invites players to see the informal life of an organization and understand play patterns. It is not only about strategies, structures and systems, but also about what is read between the lines, the unwritten rules of the game, and ingrained play patterns. The play metaphor brings out cultural practices, stubbornness, affects interactions between players, political games and individual uncertainties. With actual in-depth change and innovation these aspects are essential in making changes successful. The play metaphor allows us to discuss the way of playing, who are the real players, and how much room there is in which to play. Play is different from game where the rules are fixed and competition is dominant. Do you want to play a game or to play without clear rules and restrictions?
Fundamental choice
Embracing organizational change as collaborative play will lead to a fundamental choice: the path of certainty and planned change aimed at stability and control, or the path of tension and uncertainty which contributes to transformational change and in-depth innovation in our organizations and the world around us. What is the choice you would make when you want to prepare your organization for the future?
Further reading
El cambio como un juego de interacción estatégica, Barcelona: Profit Editorial, 2019.
https://www.profiteditorial.com/libro/cambio-juego-interaccion-estrategica/
Organizational change as collaborative play. Amsterdam: Boom Publishers, 2019