Comments on: Do You Recognize These Characteristics of Successful Change Practitioners? http://changethinking.net/agents/do-you-recognize-these-characteristics-of-successful-change-practitioners Fri, 23 Jul 2010 13:47:08 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Sheila Legon http://changethinking.net/agents/do-you-recognize-these-characteristics-of-successful-change-practitioners/comment-page-1#comment-46 Sheila Legon Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:27:08 +0000 http://changethinking.net/?p=392#comment-46 Hi Daryl! I agree with the comment made on being "passionately neutral". This is, for most of the change agents I work with, their greatest challenge as often they are taking on aspects of change implementation for which they cannot be held accountable...and theyhave a very hard time saying "no, not I". I think another key challenge is to work with sponsors on developing realization goals and measures, rather than just the installation measures and to "hold people's feet to the fire" over a longer time-frame. We are just really beginning to appreciate the need for longer time horizons of accountability. Hi Daryl!

I agree with the comment made on being “passionately neutral”. This is, for most of the change agents I work with, their greatest challenge as often they are taking on aspects of change implementation for which they cannot be held accountable…and theyhave a very hard time saying “no, not I”. I think another key challenge is to work with sponsors on developing realization goals and measures, rather than just the installation measures and to “hold people’s feet to the fire” over a longer time-frame. We are just really beginning to appreciate the need for longer time horizons of accountability.

]]> By: Rudy Morales Miranda http://changethinking.net/agents/do-you-recognize-these-characteristics-of-successful-change-practitioners/comment-page-1#comment-43 Rudy Morales Miranda Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:52:07 +0000 http://changethinking.net/?p=392#comment-43 Daryl, You state in this posting that we “must learn to be as creative and as flexible as possible when dealing with resistance and various other challenges…” That is an important aspect of change management. I don’t see too much discussion about what causes change initiatives to fail, but failure is going to happen. More often than not, the reason for failure is employee resistance, which can be attributed to poor communication and little to no training to help employees understand what change will mean to them. This information needs to come to them in plain language, not in the terminology of change that only management understands. Change needs to be expressed in clear, concise, simple language that shows exactly what will happen, to whom it will happen, and what the end state will look like. Vagueness doesn’t help. Language that shows the world how well educated you are doesn’t help. Facts are what help people understand change. Resistance to change is caused by employees worrying about losing their jobs, or worrying about having to take on more work because of the organizational change. It doesn’t matter what type of change is being made, something is going to happen to someone, someone will win and someone will lose. We need to be up front with employees and explain what the costs and benefits of the change will be. If the change will personally affect employees, we need to let them know and we need to help them manage the change in their personal or professional lives that the change will cause. The leadership aspect of organizational change management when dealing with resistance to change should never be overlooked. Rudy Daryl,
You state in this posting that we “must learn to be as creative and as flexible as possible when dealing with resistance and various other challenges…” That is an important aspect of change management. I don’t see too much discussion about what causes change initiatives to fail, but failure is going to happen. More often than not, the reason for failure is employee resistance, which can be attributed to poor communication and little to no training to help employees understand what change will mean to them. This information needs to come to them in plain language, not in the terminology of change that only management understands. Change needs to be expressed in clear, concise, simple language that shows exactly what will happen, to whom it will happen, and what the end state will look like. Vagueness doesn’t help. Language that shows the world how well educated you are doesn’t help. Facts are what help people understand change. Resistance to change is caused by employees worrying about losing their jobs, or worrying about having to take on more work because of the organizational change. It doesn’t matter what type of change is being made, something is going to happen to someone, someone will win and someone will lose. We need to be up front with employees and explain what the costs and benefits of the change will be. If the change will personally affect employees, we need to let them know and we need to help them manage the change in their personal or professional lives that the change will cause. The leadership aspect of organizational change management when dealing with resistance to change should never be overlooked.

Rudy

]]> By: Sue Smith http://changethinking.net/agents/do-you-recognize-these-characteristics-of-successful-change-practitioners/comment-page-1#comment-42 Sue Smith Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:50:07 +0000 http://changethinking.net/?p=392#comment-42 Dear Daryl, What I find most beneficial about your generous leadership is the direct applicabilty to who I be as a leader and to be clear about key areas of focus in leading change. The only thing that I would add is what you so aptly describe as "passionate neutrality" (attributes that you describe in this posting). This has been the most impactful key learning for me, personally & professionally. Passionate neutrality has allowed for more open and generous listening and invited and established clarity in alignment and commitment. Thank you, Sue Dear Daryl,
What I find most beneficial about your generous leadership is the direct applicabilty to who I be as a leader and to be clear about key areas of focus in leading change.

The only thing that I would add is what you so aptly describe as “passionate neutrality” (attributes that you describe in this posting). This has been the most impactful key learning for me, personally & professionally. Passionate neutrality has allowed for more open and generous listening and invited and established clarity in alignment and commitment.

Thank you,
Sue

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