Manage Change from Within

This is a very exciting time! In six months, God willing, I will have met all of the requirements to complete a graduate study program in change management. I decided to complete a second degree, MLS, in leadership studies as well because leadership is important to communicating change. Part of the requirements for completing the study is a capstone course which is designed to apply everything I have learned over the past two years. There are two choices, research a topic or define a problem within an organization, come up with a solution and make recommendations. I chose to define a problem within an organization largely because I want to utilize my communications background in a different way.

Experts in the industry say 70% of all change initiatives result in failure for a variety of reasons. Communications – or lack thereof – is one reason. Change management guru, John Kotter, writes in his book Leading Change that leadership has to create a sense of urgency, create the guiding coalition, develop a vision and strategy, communicate (there’s that word again) the change vision, empower employees, generate and celebrate successes, push hard on the gas to sustain change, and anchor new approaches in the culture. Professor Kotter adds that successful change initiatives are driven from within which leads to a convergence of the traditional hierarchal business structure and a networked structure. This is counterintuitive to the traditional top-down, command-and-control type structure.

What does this say for legacy organizations where senior leadership has been in place for more than 30 years? It becomes a challenge for the change agent when leaders are reluctant to admit or acknowledge that a change communications strategy is needed to grow the organization. “We’ve tried that before,” is sometimes the response when presented with the idea. Why? It requires breaking away from norms that prevent organic growth from occurring like an examination of core values and vision to establish the code within the culture. It’s hard to believe but some leaders are reluctant to do the little things like conduct focus groups to find out needs, wants and level of satisfaction.

These are just some basic starting points to consider as I launch this project. I hope to develop the message of change communications in such a way that it is received in the spirit in which it is intended. People sometimes get defensive when change is suggested. However, I am reminded that the challenge to manage change from within requires self-examination, acknowledgement that change must occur, and a willingness to… well, change. We cannot change in others what we are not willing to change within ourselves. Author Robert E. Quinn writes in his book, Change the World: How Ordinary People Can Accomplish Extraordinary Results, that we must embrace the hypocritical self. That’s not always an easy thing for anyone to do.