Organisational Change Management Volume 2

General Comments on the 7 Ingredients

. Use the 7 ingredients as a guide and road map in the transition process

. There is overlap between the ingredients and different degrees of emphasis in different situations

. The 7 ingredients create the conditions for people to discover in themselves how they need to change: they create a receptive work-environment and activate a process for transition and climate for change

"...Problem in all stages of a change effort is changing the behaviour of individual managers and employees..."

John Kotter, 2003

. Ingredient structure can be used as an audit framework to evaluate a "completed" change and/or an on-going change

. The 7 ingredients are aiming to develop individuals and organisations that have the following attitudes

- open and receptive to new ideas

- excited rather than anxious about change

- challenged, not threatened, by transitions

- committed to change as an ongoing process

- readiness rather than resistance

Furthermore, they are willing to initiate actions by

- anticipating and initiating change

- challenging the status quo

- creating, rather than reacting to, change

- leading, rather than following, competitors, customers and industry

- "Peer group" pressure is important in all the 7 ingredients

NB The 7 ingredients is not a fixed 'step-by-step' or 'tick-and-flick' approach.

Using the 7 ingredients is like a recipe, ie all 7 ingredients are required to make an effective change. The allocation of effort, resources, etc on each of the 7 ingredients can vary from situation to situation.

Remember: change is too dynamic for this rigid approach as it requires constant correction and flexibility to handle unexpected challenges. You may be working on multiple ingredients simultaneously or in parallel. It is a thinking discipline that makes you aware of what change tasks you might need to engage in; it then helps you decide what to do and how to do it.