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In any organisation trying to implement major change there is a significant dilemma that sponsors and agents have to manage. This dilemma is caused by two pressures. One pressure is to achieve results and the other pressure is to include people in the process of change.
In this short article we will briefly examine these pressures, their effect on sponsors and agents and then give advice on what organisations can do to manage these pressures effectively.
Pressure 1: Achieve results
For what ever reason since the collapse of the dotcom bubble executives have refocused themselves on the ‘numbers’ and they are demanding strong ‘bottom line’ performance. Great revenues with a hint of profits ‘sometime in the future’ somehow doesn’t cut it anymore. The pressure is on for business results and ‘make it quick’ or at least this quarter.
In many ways this has had a positive effect on change efforts. Change comes about as a result of people doing things differently rather than talking about doing them with no tangible action. If organisations are to change faster and more comprehensively than their competitors then a strong bias to action supported by a highly effective execution capability is a ‘must’ to create meaningful strategic change. The big problem is that many organisations, for whatever reason, find effective change execution difficult. As Larry Bossidy (ex-CEO of Honeywell) commented ‘Things that are supposed to happen don’t happen’ (see note 1)
Pressure 2: Need for Inclusion
Societal and business changes have created a demand for more inclusion among people at all levels of the organisation. The traditional ‘top-down’, command and control approach no longer seem effective, except in extreme circumstances. We see this need for inclusion reinforced by two trends.
Firstly, people in many organisations are becoming increasingly exhausted by change efforts. Therefore sponsors and agents are looking for ways to increase the involvement of people on the grounds that if people are involved their ‘buy-in’ is higher and consequently they will have more energy to engage in the change. Closely allied to this trend we see a second one. There is a desire to create a more positive view of change by trying to replace the old ‘top-down’ change planning in favour of one where people create their own future. The rationale is that people won’t resist a future they created. Additionally, it will feel less like change and more like on-going improvement. All of which is, of course, true.
In summary, the second pressure is the demand to include people and use this inclusion as a major vehicle to drive change. There is no doubt in our minds that employee involvement in change is absolutely critical for execution success. The big problem here is that this critical need, for inclusion, in many organisations has metamorphosed into ‘happy talk’. Where this happens there seems a belief that just talking gets change done and as long as people leave a meeting feeling positive the change agents or sponsors work is completed. Unfortunately when people face challenges to their values or substantial changes in their expectations this belief is woefully inadequate.
Effect on Change Sponsors and Agents
As it was put so practically (and eloquently) by Harold Leavitt (Stanford Organisational Behaviour Professor) ‘…..managers must manage more participatively, more collaboratively, and more creatively, but also more systematically, more tightly, and more rapidly’ ?. In other words somehow sponsors have to be able to drive for change results using inclusion as a powerful lever of transition.
So how can change sponsors and agents deal with this dilemma?
The answer to this is obviously complex but three actions stand out:
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Keep the organisation focused on business critical changes. To meet the twin pressures of results and inclusion organisations will be stretched to fully implement more than the most critical change imperatives
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Become skilled in designing and facilitating involvement strategies that really engage people. There is a 30 year old change maxim – ‘plan long / act quick’ which more than ever holds true in this environment. This includes:
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Giving sufficient time for involvement, particularly in the design and implementation stages of the change.
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Moving to action quickly and decisively once you feel that people are engaged in the change. Transition an involvement which is characterised by people talking about the change into involvement that is about people doing things and taking action.
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Motivate and train sponsors to adopt a more flexible style that is a balance of inclusion but also gives real direction to the change effort.
Summary
At the end of the day we live in a world where the most important statistics are sales, profits, cash and share prices. The dilemma is that this has to be achieved when people have high expectations of being included and consulted. Sponsors and agents face the challenge of obtaining results but in a way that is inclusive and engaging not demotivating and disruptive
(1) Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan ‘Execution – The Discipline of Getting Things Done’ Random House 2002
(2) ?Harold Leavitt ‘Top Down’ HBS Press 2005
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