AHBETE

[miniMBA_03] Change Management

Ice Cubes vs. White Water Rapids: Understanding Past & Present Models of Change

• Change is the norm, not the exception
• Businesses need to establish cultures and processes that are nimble, adaptable, and willing to grow and learn.

Past Model of Organizational Change: Ice Cube

• Lewin’s Episodic Model - classic model but is now considered outdated
• Views change as an event or episode that happens only occasionally
• 3 steps: Melt - Move - Freeze
• Leaders stop current practices in order to make permanent changes for the future.

Present Model of Organizational Change: White Water Rapids

• Views change as expected, rapid, and often intense
• 3 steps: Freeze - Move - Melt
• Leaders pause to get a snapshot of current reality and make incremental changes to adjust to change. The process of evaluation and adjustment continues in order to “balance the raft.”

Are You Managing or Leading Change?

• Are you viewing change as an opportunity or as a threat?
• Management and leadership are not the same, therefore managers have a different focus from leaders.

Managers

• Make a plan (typically short term) and allocate people and resources to accomplish daily work
• Control and problem-solve

Change Management

• Focuses on process and management functions of problem-solving
• Keeps the train on the tracks
• Present-forward Thinking - “survival” mode response to unexpected change where focus is getting through the day
• Change happening to us - need for damage control

Leaders

• Set a vision (often long term) and align people behind that vision
• Motivate and inspire people to work toward the vision
• Set the emotional tone on how to react and respond to change

Change Leadership

• Involves a sense of agency
• Drives the train and decides the direction
• Views change as an opportunity
• Future-back Thinking - setting the vision of where we want to be in the long-term and using that vision to determine steps to take now to achieve it

SWOT

S - Strengths - internal elements we do better than others

W - Weaknesses - internal elements where we we lag behind others

O - Opportunities - external force that can help

T - Threats - external force that can hurt

Our Volunteer Army: Building Your Team for Change

• Common theme - gather support that can inform, support, and champion the changes.

5 Kinds of Power

1. Legitimate power / position power - influence based on the role held such as a boss
2. Reward power - influence based on control of valued rewards such as a raise
3. Coercive power - influence based on the fear of punishment
4. Expert power - influence based on the possession of valued knowledge or expertise
5. Referent power - influence based on respect or admiration

3 Outcomes When Asking/Telling Others to Change Behaviors

1. Resistance - will refuse the change
2. Compliance - will make the change but only because they feel they must
3. Commitment - do make the change because they want to and believe it is for the best

Commitment is the goal as leaders.

Expert and referent power are most likely to result in commitment, therefore leaders need to enlist others with referent and expert power into their “volunteer army.”

Using your position, reward, or punishment to influence will most likely result in compliance or resistance.

Are You on Mute? Communicating in Times of Change & Crisis

• Open communication during change and crisis should be the first priority.
• People want leaders who are transparent and trust-worthy.
• Inviting your people to help solve problems creates a sense of empowerment when it is needed the most.

3 Reasons Leaders Don’t Communicate in a Crisis

1. Leaders assume they have to know all of the answers.
2. Leaders assume no news is better than bad news.
3. Leaders worry reaching out will invite questions they can’t answer.

Communication Tips

• Reach out regularly
• Reach out often
• Involve people in the process - they will be more likely to accept decisions

Key Phrases to Help Leaders Communicate in Times of Change or Crisis

• Here’s what we know.
• Here’s what we don’t know.
• Here’s what we’re working on.
• Here’s what’s next.

Crucibles of Leadership

• All leaders eventually face an unexpected, often stressful, test that will be a transformative event.
• Potential outcomes of severe trials include crumbling under the pressure or being strengthened.

4 Skills to Survive and Thrive

1. Engage others in shared meaning - what can we learn from the crisis?
2. Develop a distinctive voice - help narrate and make sense of the situation
3. Have integrity - respond in ways that clearly connect to your stated values
4. Use your adaptive capacity - ability to think broadly about the context of the situation

Adaptive capacity and persistence represent a leader and organization that can adjust and adapt to rapid change for the long-term.