29 Nov 2021 · 6 min
Peter Senge noted people resist being changed, not change itself. The speaker argues most change fails because it flows top-down, and proposes starting with frontline staff instead. Five enablers make it work: clear strategy, purpose, lived values, strong listening leaders, and aligned objectives that connect top to front line.
Hello there. A little thought for the day and a bit different to maybe previous episodes, something for you to maybe think about and mull over because it's something that's been going around in my head for many, many months now. Peter Senge, the author and change management expert, said people don't resist change. They resist being changed. Now, when you think about big corporate change, how does that normally happen? Well, generally, the big change is conceived at the top of the organization and then pushed down to division and then department and then down eventually to individuals. The change starts at the top and gets pushed down. And I wonder, is that why, you know, that old McKinsey stats about 70% of change failing being broadly because of people, because they don't feel bought in and because their leaders don't feel bought into that change. I wonder, is that why? Because people feel as though it's being pushed on them. They're resisting being changed because it's being pushed down from the top of the organization. So here's an idea. What about if you turned the entire thing on its head? What if you started the change in your organization at the bottom, at the frontline, with the people who are doing the jobs day in, day out, who can see what's working and what isn't and what needs to be changed in order for you to achieve as an organization what you need to achieve. What would you need to have in place to make sure that the wheels didn't come off? What would those things be? Well, for me, there are probably 5 key ones. Number 1, of course, has to be a strategy. What is it as an organization we are trying to achieve? And of course, that's going to be written up in your usual 30 or 40-page PowerPoint deck or Word document. But on top of that, the icing on that cake, a corporate narrative that helps to explain to people in the organization where you've come from, where you're going, how you're gonna get there, the role they play in making that happen, and what it's gonna feel like when you arrive. Basically taking that 30 or 40 pages and boiling it down into those 5 or 6 paragraphs that can really get people in the head and in the heart. So we now know where we're going. Why are we going there? Number 2, have you got a clear purpose? Why do we exist as an organization? Why are we here? What is it we're trying to achieve? In the world, as people in our organization? Have you clearly articulated that? So we've got our direction and we've got our why. What about how we do business? Well, for me, third has to be lived values. Do you have values in your organization? I'm sure many of you can say yes and tick the box, but are they lived? Are they celebrated? Do you hold people to account for living them? And do you celebrate when they do live them? Do you hold them up and say, here's a really good example of our one team value? Have you worked with your staff to work out what those values should be? Have you worked with your teams to find out from them what they think is really, really important in your business if you're to achieve that overall strategy? I think really closely aligned to that is this whole idea of having engaging leaders and strong leaders, not managers, but people that listen and can celebrate difference and can lead and bring their teams on that journey that you've laid out in that corporate narrative that are there to that are there to clear out the roadblocks out of the way, that help their teams to understand what it is they need to achieve and then leave them to get on with it. Finally, and I guess a key part of that whole idea of leadership is having really clear objectives. That yes, we have an overall objective at the top of the organization, but how does that cascade down into division, into departments, and into teams to make sure that we've got really, really clear clearly defined and clearly aligned objectives that when I'm doing my job, when I'm thinking about the type of change that has to happen in the organization, I can see that red thread from my role all the way back to the top of the organization. So, if I know what it is we have to achieve through our strategy, I know why we're doing it and how we're going to do it through purpose and values. If we've got strong and engaging leaders that work with teams and set objectives that are defined and aligned, surely then could we say to our people, well, you decide what it is we need to change to get us there. We are empowering you to make that happen. Would that work? I think it could in some organizations. And then I think you just let people at it. And when they succeed, you celebrate the win. And when they fail, you celebrate the fact that they've tried. And it hasn't worked and they'll go back and they'll try something new or something tweaked and they'll go again. That sense of power that would come from that model, from that upside-down change model, could be really something. And I wonder, maybe is that something that could work in your organization? I'd love to hear about it. Find me on LinkedIn and let me know. But maybe just a little thought for the day as to how you can perhaps turn things upside down. Thanks a million.
