Framework 142 Principles for Guiding Change (surviving and thriving)

Introduction

The aim is to both minimise threats and to maximise the chances of gaining opportunities.

This involves the 'science of change' that has 3 major elements, ie study of

i) human nature (study individuals around capacity - including resistance - for change; hardwiring of the brain and the body; survival instinct dominates yet
"...the vast majority of people tend to seriously underestimate the power of our built-in survival instinct and how it can inadvertently overwhelm our capacity to swiftly see opportunities, innovate, adapt, lead, and change for the better..."
John Kotter et al, 2021

The brain is most concerned about threats and survival (for more detail, see elsewhere in the Knowledge Base).

However, you need to find ways to get beyond survival and thrive by seeking opportunities and possibilities. When this happens
"...an internal mechanism is activated (the parasympathetic nervous system) and it sends out different sets of chemicals (like oxytocin and vasopressin). In the thrive response, our energy goes up but does not spike. Thrive is accompanied by emotions like passion and excitement rather than anxiety or anger. Our field of focus does not shrink; it often does the opposite, expanding as curiosity about the possibility broadens one's field of vision......with positive emotions flowing......we are more open to collaboration, creativity and innovation. The mind and body search for ways to move towards the opportunity. As long as we see evidence that we are making some progress, our increased energy can be sustained for a remarkably long period of time without our feeling burned out..."
John Kotter et al, 2021

In summary

We need to prevent the survival response from overheating and to instead activate the thrive response so that the latter dominates.

However, with 24/7 connectivity (Internet, mobile phones, social media, etc), the survival mode can dominate and cause problems.

The survival response is not a rational mechanism, especially as we have little control over many of the potential threats as they are external, eg natural disasters, terrorist attack, etc.

Need survival and thrive responses to work together, ie
"...survive greatly aides thrive activation. Neither under-activated or overheated, and with a repertoire of effective responses to problems at hand, a well-functioning survive.....is neither a debilitating distraction nor a lethal energy drain. Then, without the need for a Herculean effort, thrive can be activated through the visibility of inspiring opportunities and the willingness, support, and ability to pursue these opportunities..."
John Kotter et al, 2021

Need to keep the survive response alert but not overwhelming.)

ii) modern organisational designs (starting in the 1930s and 40s.)

The Industrial Revolution (starting mid-18 century) reduced the cost of production and distribution plus created mass markets; to capitalise on these developments, organisations became more complex, ie many thousands of people at multiple sites. To handle this new work situation
"...all sorts of new and formal systems, policies, structures, and jobs were invented. Planning was designed as a much more structured process attached to financial budgeting. Reporting relationships and jobs were written in the published hierarchical organisational structures. Finance and other control systems were invented to monitor activity everywhere and to make sure results were on plan. New problem-solving techniques and communication methods emerged to make course corrections if results slipped off plan..."
John Kotter et al, 2021.

A new level of management was created, ie middle management.

All this produced unprecedented levels of efficiency and reliability.

However, there were rules, policies, procedures, plants, standardisation, etc - all important for efficiency and reliability but potential barriers to change.There were gradual changes over time, such as interdepartmental task forces, less bureaucracy and more cultural tolerance. However, in recent times there has been an explosion of new ideas around digitalisation, Internet of Things, automation, social media, etc. This has put current organisational designs 'under the microscope', ie to handle both the tasks of reliability and efficiency with speed and agility.

iii) leadership in change (expanding leadership beyond senior management; more leadership (vision, alignment, inspiration, etc), ie 'capturing their hearts' and less management (planning, hierarchy, control, micromanaging, etc), ie 'capturing their heads'; increase collaboration, especially across silos.

What is needed is buy-in or ownership by important stakeholders so it becomes their change project and not just senior management's, consultant's, etc.(for more detail, see elsewhere in the Knowledge Base).

Study of exceptional leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Konosuke Matsushita, Nelson Mandela, etc demonstrates the value of following important leadership approaches:
- creating a broadly embraced sense of urgency around the opportunity
- communicate widely
- getting people to buy into the concept
- winning hearts and minds with strategy and passion
- through continuous positive energy and talk, mobilising the people to overcome the barriers
- ensuring that wins come early and often and are publicised and celebrated
- institutionalise and anchor the changes
- being continuously persistent and having resilience in their pursuits

It is less about charisma and heroic behaviours, and more about getting people on side and activating the right behaviours, ie
"...leading change successfully today shows that teams drive broad-based action by behaving according to a set of guiding principles..."
John Kotter et al, 2021

Guiding principles (7)

i) accountability (hold themselves and others accountable)

ii) emotional buy-in (despite being rational and analytical, they understand how to get the emotional buy-in)

iii) good managers (developing, promoting, planning, organising, controlling, etc)

iv) encourage leadership at all levels, not just the top

v) use small, well-connected, knowledgeable groups to identify and explore change challenges

vi) appreciate the breadth and depth of talent within the organisation

vii) appreciate the unique environment they are working in.

Networks

In addition to the formal networks and hierarchy, the informal networks needs to be involved and on side. The informal networks are more fluid and very powerful in their influence; generally, people in the informal network have a better understanding than those in the formal network of what is going on at the grassroots, ie customer-understanding, potential, challenges, etc. They are not necessarily shown in an organisational chart as powerful. Both networks (formal and informal) need to be leveraged to drive strategic change initiatives.

Summarised in tabulated format, ie change principles

Similar guiding principles apply to all types of change like merger and acquisition, digital/IT, cultural, restructuring, etc

NB Most change struggles due non-technical issues, ie
"...more to do with change principles and processes, the nature of modern organisations and human survive and thrive hardwiring..."
John Kotter et al, 2021

Remember: it is more a leadership-centric approach than a management-centric approach; with maximum staff involvement, engagement, participation, etc; activating the thrive response and its associated feelings of excitement, passion and purpose.

The 2 different approaches are summarised below:

The management-centric approach tends to favour a
"...small and homogeneous (often elite) group guiding the effort, without being aided by diverse and mass numbers of people providing energy, urgency, enthusiasm, knowledge, and connection to others......you find a traditional management process, heavy on plans, linear movement, metrics, policy, hierarchy and trials..."
John Kotter et al, 2021

This is not a way to get ownership and buy-in from staff that is important for a successful change initiative, ie thrive response. You need a lighter-touch management working with informal leaders so that the change initiative is not dependent on the hierarchy.