“People don’t resist change. They resist being changed." – Peter Senge
Why does organisational change fail?
When we talk to leaders about their organisation’s change processes, we often find ourselves having the same conversation. They tell us about the consultants they hired to produce a report and a strategy (i.e. who told them what to do). And when we asked them how that worked out, they respond that either the project stalled because they didn’t have the capability internally to execute it, or it failed because their culture wasn’t ready for the change.
In other words, most of our conversations on change management processes boil down to senior leaders knowing what they need to do, but not knowing how to do it.
The ‘how’ of change is the hardest, most complex, and most underestimated element of any change process, and that’s because it’s all about people.
Three focus areas for organisational change
Impact’s view on the ‘how’ of organisational change is simple: All organisational change is people learning to do work differently or learning to do different work.
This requires a focus on three key areas: the people, the learning, and the work.
People
Meaningful change only happens when people are empowered to own the change that is needed. This means that they fully understand, not just what needs to change, but also the wider purpose that is driving it.
Involving people in change doesn’t mean gathering them in a room and telling them what is going to happen. It means listening to their perspectives, experimenting together, failing together, and working through the process in collaboration. Involving people in change is about setting up flows of communication, pockets of excellence, and collectively leaning into unknown. When done well, not only do you achieve a successful change process, you also liberate brilliance throughout your organisation.
Learning
The first step for any leader driving a change process is to admit that they don’t have the entire solution. This can feel uncomfortable, but in this world of increasing complexity and challenge, it’s not possible for any human being to have all the answers.
The most successful leaders are those who can start from this place of humility and bring others in. These leaders consider what they don’t know first, seek out those with different perspectives and expertise (and this should always include the people doing the work that is going to change), and bring them together to collaborate, engage in dialogue, and learn from each other. Because leading change should always be about leading learning.
Work
Successful organisational change requires a laser-like focus on the work that is going to change. Ultimately, if the work that an organisation is doing isn't different in some way then there hasn’t been any meaningful change.
One of the biggest challenges that leaders face is changing organisational culture. Because if the culture doesn’t shift, the change won’t happen and the business goals won’t be met. But transforming culture is hard, and it isn’t something that can be changed directly by senior management teams. This is because organisational culture is formed of many things: an organisation’s lived values, practices, and processes, as well as its people and the relationships and interactions that exist between them. In other words, organisational culture is an emergent property of how work gets done. Start working with other people to change how things are done, and the culture will begin to move.
How to successfully lead organisational change
Focusing on the specific work that needs to change; giving ownership of that change to those doing the work; and designing the change method as a learning process: these are the three key actions we believe underpin the 'how' of successful organisational change.
We are living in a period of unprecedented technological, economic, and societal upheaval, and when the world is changing so must we. As leaders it is critical that we re-evaluate and transform our approaches to organisational change.
Get in touch to explore how we can partner with you on your change journey.