Change only sticks when the people it affects are involved. Great change leaders know this. All change is either embraced or rejected by the people who have to live with its outcome. So it’s always best to involve those people in the process of change and pay close attention to their hopes and fears.
Make change personal to create a culture that embraces change, and that's how you'll make change stick. We'd recommend starting with asking your people, “What would you like to change?".
Selecting the best-fit change approach
We've worked with organisations of all shapes and sizes and found there are three things that need to be considered at the beginning of any change venture. Change only succeeds if there is focus on benefits, involvement and sustainability. The trick is to get the balance between them right according to the situation. So what balance works best for what types of change?
Different ways of bringing about change
Change can take place in either a directive or inclusive style. When change is predominantly directive, the benefits and requirements of the change are defined from above, before the programme starts. In change that is more inclusive, those who will be impacted by the change help shape its purpose, direction and how it is implemented. Directive change really only works when the change leader has all the information about the causes and effects of the current situation at his or her fingertips and has the authority to enforce compliance. It also tends to be effective only in delivering a short term burst of change; this can be really important in managing a rapid turnaround but will likely fizzle out over time.
When the need for change is clear, but the way forward is less obvious, an inclusive approach is always best. Involving those people who will need to change their working practices is, not surprisingly, key to gaining their buy-in. Many change projects fail because the people affected simply reject new approaches, not least because they weren’t involved in deciding upon what they should be. People who are included up-front are more likely to make the permanent changes to business-as-usual that make change sustainable. What is less obvious is that this approach often also accelerates the initial delivery of benefits. Why? Sheer weight of numbers provides momentum; and the inclusion of the front line in diagnosis and solution-definition gets them sharing their experience of what will and won’t work in practice.
This all sounds straightforward. But in reality, many things get in the way of selecting the right approach. Top among these de-railers is the personal style of the change sponsor. Many leaders got to the top by asserting their authority, driving change quickly and efficiently and directing their teams. This directive style worked for them because as managers, most of their problems were predictable and they had the information they needed to tell their teams what to do. But as leaders, far more of their problems are what we call dilemmas. They require both central and local action; both a short term impact on revenue and a long term impact on capability; both an increase in personal accountability and an increase in teamwork. Resolving dilemmas requires a more inclusive approach and is the real work of leadership.
Download “Ensuring sustainable value from consultants” case study
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