Disability Employment Australia Demystifying Change

Wednesday, 10 August 2011 00:00

by Bill Synnot ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

(Presentation  notes from the ACE Conference - Demystifying Change - June 2011)

ACE Conference - “Demystifying Change” - June 2011 - Bill Synnot

Bill Synnot - Professional
• Leading change management practitioner, trainer & consultant
• 30+ years of experience in change management and as a change catalyst
• Worked with 500+ worldwide organisations in range of sectors (private, public, local, co-operative, professional, not-for-profit, etc)
• Published book, CD and articles on change management
• Regularly presents at conferences on change management
• For 10+ years has conducted public and in-house Masterclasses/workshops on change management

Bill Synnot - Personal
• Sufferer (Cardiomyopathy – Atrial Fibrillation) (1993)
• Carer (with 2 sons) for wife (Myasthenia Gravis – rare auto-immune health issue) (2006)
• Currently a Committee member & Volunteer of 2 NFP organisations
- Myasthenia Gravis Association (Qld)
- Meals on Wheels (Bulimba)

Topics to be covered
• Background to change including
- Characteristics of a successful organisation
- Trends
- Common management errors
- ROI, etc
• Understanding organisational change frameworks
• Using 7 ingredients to select a framework to plan, establish, develop, implement, check progress, audit performance, and monitor and evaluate an organisational change
• Selecting from 250+ change implementation techniques
• Summary and Feedback

What do these Successful Entrepreneurs have in Common?
• Richard Branson (Virgin group of companies)
• Kerry Packer (Consolidated group of companies)
• John Chambers (Cisco)
• Paul Orfalea (Kinko)
• Walt Disney (Disney Entertainment)
• Ted Turner (CNN)
• Kerry Stokes (Channel 7)

Answer - Suffer from varying degrees of Dyslexia

Change is everywhere!!!!
• Changes in technology, communication, demographics, product lines, services, organisational structures, concepts of management, business frameworks, workplace protocols, marketing, consumerism, etc.

“...Change management is a core competency...”
Ann Sherry

• All this demands that all organisations anticipate and respond quickly to a wide variety of new challenges.

Definition
Change means experiencing something different and/or doing something differently usually with the basic aim of

“...Increasing the organisation’s capability to adapt to and adopt new ways of doing business...”
Scott Simmerman

Change is a Human Journey that involves shifts in culture/attitudes/behaviours/beliefs, etc

Levels of Change

Background
• Change management is about changing mindsets
• Need to be willing to be challenged and to feel insecure as Trends in Change Management
• Recent failure of traditional frameworks has increased focus in understanding
i) evolutionary physiology
ii) non-rational thinking in decision-making, etc.
iii) collective behaviour, eg social networks
iv) chaos theory
v) complexity  
• Speed of information transfer
• Change is very circumstantial
• Neuroscience focus, i.e. understanding how the brain works
• Change Management as part of Project Management
• Change Management as job titles/descriptions
• Change Management in academic courses as a subject and/or qualification
• Generational shift in change practitioners, i.e. younger & more academically qualified
• More outsourcing, i.e. 25% of Australian workforce are “contingent” (contractors, consultants, etc)

Neuroscience (biopsychology)
• It is the study of anatomy & physiology of the brain and its integration with other disciplines, such as psychology (the study of the human mind & human behaviour).
• The brain is like a muscle (use it or lose it).
• There is no limit to its plasticity & connectivity
• Response to threat v. reward
• The main functions of the brain are 3 fold:
i) Automatic Functions (Reptilian  - controls like breathing, heartbeat, sleeping, etc)
ii) Routine Functions (Amygdale - controls feelings like rage, pleasure, fear, etc)
iii) Executive Functions (Cortex - controls thinking, speech, vision, memories, creativity, etc)
• The brain is 2% of body weight but uses 20% of its energy. Executive function thinking is the most exhausting of the 3 functions.
• The challenge is to get the brain beyond its preferred energy-saving limbic, survival response to its energy-expensive executive thinking.

Integrating Change Management & Project Management
• Why are people skills essential to Project Managers?

“...The skills required for project management are now often divided 50/50 into traditional ‘hard’ skills, such as risk management and scheduling, and ‘soft’, people-oriented skills, such as interpersonal communication...”
Sampson

Because Project Managers rely on People!

People Skills (behavioural)

Some people skills include
• Communications (listening, body language, electronic, traditional, etc)
• Leadership (delegation, flexibility, accountability, facilitation, positive attitude, influencing, self-confidence, passion, etc)
• Trustworthiness (honesty, integrity, etc)
• Emotional Intelligence (self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy & social skills)
• Coaching/mentoring
• Stress management (conflict resolution, etc)
• Relationship building (networking, inter-personal skills, stakeholder management, team management, etc)
• Learning & development (life-long learning, etc)
• Marketing (negotiation, selling skills, promotion, etc)

“...Superior project management is attained when the organisation has a culture based upon effective trust, communication, cooperation and teamwork...”
Kerzner

Commonalities in CM and PM

CM & PM share these features
• Usually do not achieve all objectives, eg do not deliver desired outcomes on time and/or within budgets, etc
• Ownership by implementers is vital
• Situation and context matter
• Stakeholders’ needs & expectations matter (& may evolve)
• Different cultures & their interfaces are significant
• Performance focus

Differences between CM and PM

Change Management
• Focus on people (behaviours/ mindsets/values/beliefs/emotions)
• Focus on impact of products/ services delivered
• More flexibility & less formal approach to frameworks/processes /schedules
• On-going (not an event)
• Background of practitioners (focus on “soft”/intangible skills, eg HR)
• Manage people (EQ)
• More of an art and less of a science

Project Management
• Focus on delivering products/ services (outcomes/outputs)
• Focus on definitive frameworks & processes
• Has well defined schedule, such as start, middle & end
• Background of practitioners (focus on “hard”/tangible/technical skills, eg engineering)
• Manage things (IQ)
• More of a science and less of an art

In Summary
• Change management needs to be integrated at the start of the project, not be an add-on to project management when convenient.
• Too often focus is on technical problems/solutions first. Only when people problems, like resistance, arise is change management considered
• Project management has been described as preparing and cooking the BBQ while Change Management is more about looking after the guests

ROI
• The greater the human element in change,
- Greater the uncertainty of effectiveness
- Harder to calculate the return.
• Human-side focus is
i) speed of adoption - how quickly do people adopt the new processes, behaviours, etc?
ii) ultimate utilization - how many impacted staff made the change and how many did not?
iii) proficiency - how effective were staff at following the new processes, behaviours, etc?

Cost-benefit analysis, some costs are
• Dedicated resource(s), eg people, time, money, facilities, etc
• Cost of methodology and tools, eg Prosci, etc
• Purchase of source materials, eg machines, materials, etc
• Training time and costs, etc

Other factors to consider in the calculation are
• Human factor (see earlier)
• Cost avoidance, i.e. change management can be a cost-avoidance tactic
• Risk mitigation, i.e. if the change is handled poorly, the organisation is at risk
• Benefit realization insurance, i.e. value of project depends on how successfully the change is handled
• Probability of meeting objectives, etc, i.e. how likely is the change project/activity likely to meet objective?
• Opportunity cost of not doing it
• Sensitivity analysis, i.e. cost and/or benefits change

Example of ROI - Some statistics
- Staff turnover (18.5% at 75% to 150% of annual salary)
- Rework (around 30% of staff's time spent on rework)
- Wasted work (around 35% of staff's time spent is wasted)

What is the impact of these on your total payroll, thus bottom line?

“...it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is the most adaptable to change...”
Charles Darwin
“...change does not come from a slogan or a speech. It happens because you put the right people in place to make it happen...”
Jack Welch
“...The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes...”
Marcel Proust
“...you can resist change and win one or more battles, but you will lose the war...”
Noel Tichy
“...An organisation is a web of interconnections; a change in one area can throw a different part of the organisation off balance.  Managing these ripple effects and the unexpected outcomes is the challenge of change...”
Harvard Business Review
“...the challenge of unpredictability can be met by remaining flexible at all times, recognising change as inevitable and an opportunity, and not locking yourself into a set path...”
Michael Chaney
“...Few goals are more challenging to achieve than significant change in adult human beings...”
Howard Gardner

Remember:

“...Over 50% of technological breakthroughs that influence an industry or organisation, come from outside that industry...”
Peter Drucker

Why Change Organisations?
• Organisation Out Of Step With Environment eg stakeholders, markets
• Opportunities To Enhance Organisation’s Strategic Intent eg takeover, acquisition
• Strengthen Core Competencies i.e. what you do best
• Expand Core Competencies i.e. diversity
• Handle Next Organisational Phase i.e. Sigmoid Curve (Life-cycle approach)

Life-cycle Approach

Why Do Some Organisational Transition Efforts Fail?

The J-Curve

Most Common Management Errors in Change Management

“...generally social and behavioural causes frustrate change initiatives rather than technical problems...”
Patrick Dawson

Each group to identify and discuss some common management errors in Change Management
• Thinking that you are “bullet-proof”
• As creatures of habit, we are unable to handle the unexpected, i.e. pushed out of zones of comfort
• Not understanding the organisational culture
• Not understanding circumstance (situational and contextual settings)
• Lack of ownership or emotional “buy-in” or “co-creating” by staff at the start of the process
• Not appreciating structural inertia and related organisational matters, i.e.
- organisations are designed for stability and maintaining status quo
- the importance of emotions and unconscious biases in decision-making, eg non-rational
- the power of leverage, ripple effect, interdependence, time delays and holistic approach
- many rules and regulations get in the way of common sense
• Ignoring that change is a personal journey, i.e. dealing with people, WIIFM, etc
• Not psychologically ready, i.e. the importance of timing  
• Underestimating the importance of intuition and story telling, while over-focusing on conventional measurement
• Technocratic approach to transitions, i.e. linear (cause and effect)
• Focus on symptoms, not causes
• Lacking the balance between
- short-term & long-term
- tangible & non-tangible approaches
• Lack of multi-disciplinary approach
• Not reading signals, like body language, correctly
• Lack of resources (time, money, etc.)
• Focus on latest fad
• Poor negotiating skills
• Change is not a one-off event but is a continuous process that needs regular reviews
• Not enough focus on selling gains from change
• Lack of a sense of urgency (not shared)
• Not managing upwards
• Change fatigue - too many change projects
• Too much complacency, i.e. paying “lip service”, not holistic approach, organisation too successful, etc
• A previous failed change effort is not acknowledged or addressed or learnt from

Do you have any additional ones?

The Hardest Organisation To Change is a Successful One (or one which perceives itself to be successful)

Active Inertia & Status Quo Thinking

Need to be careful that strategic planning does not become an example of active inertia and status quo thinking

Most Frameworks Over-Simplify the Situation

Extremes of Framework Selection

Two extremes
• Too specific, i.e. framework developed from one or a couple of unique, successful change experience(s)
• Too general, i.e. based on research of 100’s of examples; thus not applicable to any one situation, etc

Limitations of Overseas Models for Australia
Australia’s situation is different from other countries/areas like USA, Europe, Japan, etc.

Each group to discuss the cultural and organisational differences that make Australia unique

Organisational Differences with USA

Australian organisations are
- more conservative & have a greater fear of making mistakes
- less keen to be assessed and handle poor performance
- statements (vision & mission) are less indicative of success
- greater focus on finding a cause rather than a challenge
- workforce prefers work that is worthwhile rather than being challenged to reach stretch goals
- winning is less about charismatic leaders, big breakthrough ideas or high pay levels and more about team performance

When looking at a Selected Framework - Answer the following questions
• What are the good points of the framework(s)?
• What the weaknesses of the framework(s)?
• Would it be useful for your organisation?

(Give reasons for your answers)

7 Essential Ingredients for a change framework
• Laying a foundation for new ways (includes building on the past)
• Establishing a sense of urgency
• Forming a transitional team
• Creating alignment
• Maximising connectedness
• Creating short term wins
• Consolidating performance improvements

Resistance to Change
• It is normal
• People are concerned about loss (real & perceived)
• Need to understand what is under-pinning the resistance
• Minimise time in this area by focusing most attention on supporters of the change

NB We are creatures of habit!!!!!!!

Rate of Adoption of change by type of people

Teams – Some Key Questions
• Does your compensation/reward/recognition system reflect the team’s performance?
• What attitudes do members have?
- i.e. “us and ours”, not  “mine, yours, etc”
- respect for each other
• Are individuals willing to take “a knock” so that the whole team can benefit?
• Do the team members have a clear, shared objective?
• What is the size of team (ideal under 10)?

Implementation Techniques

Definition of Insanity

Need for Circuit Breakers to Achieve Mindset Changes (this can involve “pushing people out of their zone of comfort”)

Background to Implementation Techniques
• The world is seen through many eyes, not just your own, i.e. people’s perceptions become their reality
• Remember: facts do not change but people’s perceptions of them do
• People’s perceptions are based on their background, culture, values, experience, self-interest, pride, ego, ambition, etc
• Decision-making is not always logical and rational but is based on emotions, prejudices, biases, etc

Main Objectives of These Implementation Techniques
• To build your (and your organisation’s) capacity and capability to handle change more effectively
• To get ownership of the challenges by asking the “right” questions, i.e.

“...I still don’t have all the answers, but I’m beginning to ask the right questions...”
as quoted by Cathryn Lloyd

How to Achieve the Objectives of These Implementation Techniques
• Ask the “right” questions so that you have the “right in-depth” dialogues/conversations/discussions, etc
• Focus on causes, not just symptoms
• Motivate the “right” stakeholders to achieve ownership of the challenges and then the solutions
• Develop the “right” relationships
• Press the “right” buttons to get people on side, i.e. WIIFM
• Encourage “mental arm wrestling” or “creative tension” to get more effective outcomes
• Understand yourself and others, i.e. strengths and weaknesses, in order to get the best out of everyone

NB Ideally do it in a non-threatening environment so that people feel free to challenge the status quo

What Motivates People?
• Watch out for Fear and Coercion (this results in people “freezing”, and is illustrated by
- compliant behaviour
- learned helplessness
- blame culture, etc.)
• Competitive spirit, i.e. healthy competition
• Desire for greatness, i.e. want to be the best
• Doing the right thing, i.e. focus on good nature of people
• Personal gain, i.e. linked with personal development
• Making a difference, i.e. combination of above

How to Persuade People
• Reciprocate, i.e. repay favour
• Be consistent, i.e. keep previous commitments
• Validate others socially, i.e. acknowledge others are already involved
• Encourage personal acceptance, i.e. prefer to deal with those you like
• Acknowledge authority, i.e. experience & expertise
• Understand scarcity, i.e. more desirable if less available

Discussability of Issues

List all the challenges that your organisation/ section/project, etc is facing and then allocate them to 1 of 3 columns, i.e.
- Always discussable
- Maybe discussable
- Never discussable

NB This is your private list.

Supportive Listening

As you have 2 ears, 2 eyes and 1 mouth, use them in that ratio!!!!!!

Understanding Culture

Relationship between Artefacts, Espoused Values and Underlying Assumptions

Forces  Direction   Impact     Term      Control     Strategies
(+/-)       (L/M/H)   (S/M/T)  (C/S/U)

Non-verbal Signal
• Communication Formula
- Words (20%)
- Body Language (40%)
- Tone (40%)
• Make communications receiver-friendly
• Describes ways to read and understand non-verbal signals

Crossword (Activity to encourage divergent thinking)

Seeing Things Differently

Mindset Changes
• Writing in space
• Bulgarian bulldozers
• Railways and optic fibres
• Post it notes
• Shoes in Africa
• Nelson Mandela
• No game, more pain
• Houdini’s lucky escape
• Four-minute mile

Thinking Outside the Box

Creative Thinking

The 6 hats that help structure a meeting so that it is more productive
• White (information gathering)
• Red (emotion, feelings, intuition, gut feeling)
• Green (creative thinking)
• Black (critical appraisal)
• Yellow (benefits, advantages, good points)
• Blue (overview, summary)

Mind Mapping

Guidelines for Mind Mapping

Reasons for not Giving a Dog to a 5-year old

Seven Ingredients For a Change Framework

Action Plan
• What?
• How?
• Who?
• When?

Prioritise!

“...There has to be a dissatisfaction for today, expectation for tomorrow, and help for them to change...”
Vineet Nayar

Book, CD & Masterclass
• Book (The Toolbox for Change: a practical approach) – 60 user-friendly techniques
• CD (50+ change frameworks and 200+ implementation techniques
• Masterclasses (Organisational Change Management)
- Sydney (Sept. 5th)
- Brisbane (Sept. 7th)
- Melbourne (Sept. 9th)

NB Discount early bird (end of June) and/or CMI member

For Further Questions/Information
www.billsynnotandassociates.com.au

Or

Bill on 0418 196 707
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