An Approach to Successful Culture Change
(1) CommentAs I wrote earlier in this series, the self-reinforcing nature of culture almost always guarantees resistance toward change. If there is a wide gap between the current culture and the culture required for success, expect a high level of cultural resistance. Quite simply, culture does not evolve on its own to support new strategic solutions. You can understand this better by looking at the role that momentum and critical mass plays in the implementation of change. (I have written a separate series on this topic.)
A Culture Shift Must Be Planned
When the current culture won’t support delivery of the promises of our clients’ new strategies and they determine not to “change the change,” our focus as professional change facilitators is to guide them toward changing the culture. You’ll need to help them build the momentum and critical mass necessary for success. The cultures that emerge more
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What Role Does Culture Play During Change?
(2) CommentsCulture—“the way things are around here”—is often beneficial to organizations during periods of relative stability. After all, culture reinforces itself. It operates in ways that ensure its own continuity, which is a good thing when all is well. When we introduce change (a disruption to or intrusion on what people expect), however, the culture works hard to defeat it, and to maintain the status quo. Bigger change means more disruption and even more intrusion, and the culture will work even harder to defeat it. more
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What’s Culture Got To Do With It?
(2) Comments“Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have—and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up.” ~James Belasco and Ralph Stayer
Flight of the Buffalo (1994)
In a recent series, I reviewed what I have learned about paradigm management and the role it plays in facilitating transformational change. A critical subset of the paradigm model I shared dealt with the interrelationship between “mindsets, behaviors, and systems.”
- Mindsets—conscious and unconscious understandings and expectations around what people hold to be true about themselves, others, and their work
- Behaviors—observable actions
- Systems—the interaction of mindsets and behaviors that have the aim of achieving an organization’s purpose
Expressed or unexpressed mindsets are reflected in particular behaviors. When they are configured and applied in a consistent manner they form systems. There are informal systems (the grapevine) and formal systems (the annual budgeting process).When these three elements of organizational life are focused on, it sheds light on a close cousin to paradigms…culture
Though there are some important distinctions, paradigm and culture are more
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8 Things to Remember When Shift Happens
(1) CommentThis is the last post in my series on the evolution of organizational paradigms. Sometimes the only thing required for a business initiative to succeed is an occasional adjustment in the way people operate within the organization. Other times, success requires dramatic, fundamental alterations not only in how people work but also in their view of the business itself, their customers, their roles, etc.—“paradigm shifts.” These change projects are the ultimate challenge and should be entered into cautiously. Yet, today’s competitive markets demand more leaps of this magnitude than ever before. This means more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
How to Make Shift Happen
In this series, we’ve been exploring the evolution of organizational paradigms. In my last post, I talked about the collapse/renewal phase, the place where either shift “happens” or it “hits the fan.” Here, I’ll pick up with an exploration of what is involved when orchestrating a new paradigm. It requires a four-part approach involving leadership, a learning environment, a new culture, and resilience.
Strong Leadership Is Imperative
Existing paradigms are typically not dissolved by consensus nor by insiders. Usually a single, determined individual or small group with the power to sanction dramatic change throughout an organization concludes that more
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The Movement Begins
(1) CommentThe Uncertainty Phase—Time to Shift or…
So far in this series, we’ve explored the meaning of the term “paradigm shift,” and we’ve looked at the first two phases of an organizational paradigm evolution. Now it’s time for us to look at how the actual shift happens, to uncover why the existing paradigm begins to decay.
It’s upsetting to realize that a critical issue (current or anticipated problem or opportunity) cannot be adequately addressed by the existing paradigm and its multitude of fixes. Such a crisis is usually precipitated by more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Empowerment Is Earned
(1) CommentIn my last post, I described the difference between empowerment and delegation. Sponsors need the influence of empowered people in order to make the best decisions possible.
Empowered people don’t get that way through a corporate edict or by attending a training class. A person builds empowerment through establishing a record of providing useful perspectives and successful recommendations to a sponsor. When the decision maker realizes he or she will make better decisions by listening to and valuing the input offered by a particular person (or group), that person becomes empowered. Work environments can be established that attract people who are predisposed toward developing empowered relationships, and empowerment can be fostered and flourish, but it is not a quality that can be given to people simply because HR, OD, or anyone else determines that it is a good idea. more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
www.connerpartners.com
Lessons Learned About Building Commitment to Change
After three-and-a-half decades of being a professional change practitioner, I’ve seen my share of successful and unsuccessful attempts to generate enough commitment to reach full realization. If there is one thing I’m sure of it’s that the necessary momentum and critical mass of commitment toward desired outcomes is not easy to come by. Below are some of the more important lessons that have affected my practice.
1. The commitment process unfolds at both intellectual and emotional levels.
Usually, intellectual commitment precedes emotional commitment. Most people can grasp the implications of a change at a cognitive level fairly quickly. However, they often find that they need more time to make the necessary emotional adjustments.
This split-level commitment can produce confusion, mixed signals, and more
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The Eight Stages of Building Commitment
(2) CommentsIn the early ’80s, while involved in research to identify patterns of change-related success and failure, I learned that the winners and losers in this arena demonstrated very different levels of resolve. As a result, I developed the following model, which describes how and when people become committed to major new organizational requirements. (Click here to download a printable worksheet of the Commitment Model to help you identify a person’s or group’s level of commitment.) more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
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The Importance of Commitment in Change
(1) Comment“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” ~Author Unknown
There are so many aspects to being a professional change practitioner that it’s easy to lose sight of the fundamentals that comprise our role. It’s OK to add all the bells and whistles we want, but at the same time, we must deliver on the basics. One way to think about the bottom line of our function is that, as change facilitators, more
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©2011 Conner Partners, Inc.
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