Change Management News

This relates to my recent post on layoffs.

My web sleuth found my Alternatives to Downsizing article from 1996 just tucked away on my website.

Back in the mid-90s I wrote about the problems with downsizing and tried to advise my clients to avoid it. I was bolstered by a report Wayne Cascio wrote for US Department of Labor where he identified nine alternatives to downsizing. I added four more alternatives to his list and wrote an article that was met with resounding indifference.

One of my clients told me that people needed to wake up. The old cradle-to-grave employment contract was over, so get used to it. It took awhile, but I started to believe what he said. I still didn’t like the human impact of downsizing, but I started to think that maybe serial monogamy was just the way things were these days. Perhaps it was new world.

My friend Wendy Mack made sure I saw the article in the recent issue of Newsweek titled Lay Off the Layoffs by Jeffrey Pfeffer (one of my favorite business writers.) (more…)

I got a call a couple of weeks ago. An organization wanted a speaker to talk about change. Not how to lead it, but how to convince people that everything would be fine once they went through the stages of grieving.

That call got me thinking. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross identified stages of grieving in dying patients denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance or DABDA for short.)

So, shouldn’t we be worried if the leaders of an organization assume that the change they are about to embark on is a lot like death? Shouldn’t that be a tip- (more…)

For decades, Toyota has been synonymous with quality. The Toyota Way is required reading is some corporations. And there is much to learn from their approach to building cars and trucks. They do know how to build things.

When word started to come in about problems with their cars, they seemed to have forgotten their own way. If a problem had been spotted on an assembly line, a worker could have stopped that line until they could figure out what went wrong – and fix it. But, once the car was out on the highway, there didn’t seem to be a similar switch that would allow an employee to signal a problem.

When the public’s trust goes, it can go fast. (more…)

You remember Jenny Sanford. She’s the wife of Gov. Mark “I found my soul mate in Argentina” Sanford. She’s just written a tell-all book. No, I didn’t read it, but The Washington Post just ran an article about it. And it reminded me of an important aspect of organizational change.

There were signs that this was going to be a bad marriage from the time they were dating. Many things ranging from refusing to promise fidelity to just shake-your-head items that make you wonder why she didn’t see him for what he was.

Organizations have those same blind spots.

Harley Davidson had huge quality problems. (more…)

If you want to learn how to work with resistance, watch a video clip of President Obama speaking to and with Republican House leaders today. It’s hard to imagine anyone in recent US history of either party who 1. would engage in a give and take with a room filled with only his or her opponents, and 2. could engage in a give and take with clarity, strength and sometimes humor. I can think of no better practical lesson on working with those who are on the other side of issues. You may not want to watch the entire hour, but here is a link to part of  the presentation itself. And here is a link that covers part of the question and answer session. There is something about a face-to-face meeting between people who disagree with one another conducted with mutual civility that is a joy to witness.

If President Obama were to ask me for advice on his State of the Union message tonight, I’d tell him to keep it simple. Limit yourself to one critical issue that you want the US Congress and the American public to support over the next year. Give two points if you really must. And if you get to three or more points, you’ll lose your audience.

The problem is that Presidents, for as long as I can remember, have delivered veritable shopping lists of things of things they want to accomplish over the coming year. There is usually something in the list for everyone. “And for little Billy, a new bicycle.”  State of the Union night is the one night of the year that insomniacs can get a good night’s sleep. Just turn on the TV and let the President (any president) lull you into dreamland.

As a leader of change, listen to the speech tonight and see if it grabs you and makes you want to do something (other than reaching for the remote.) Corporate leaders, like Presidents, cover too many things when they are trying to influence their audiences. The ancient Roman orator, Cato the Censor, said, “Stick to the point and the words will take care of themselves.” And, you’ll note that Cato said point – not points.

Two reasons for this post. 1. It might help those who wish to help during the crisis in Haiti, and 2. it is a good reminder about what it may take to manage a major change effectively.  Nathanial Whittemore’s post “What Go Wrongs with Rebuilding Efforts (and How to Do Better This Time)” offers have problems when outsiders try to do good in situations like the Earthquake in Haiti.

1. Lack of local knowledge. The need to understand the complexities and uniqueness of the culture you want to help.

2. One-dimensional victim-centric view of impacted populations.

3. Lack of respect for local economic systems.

4. Lack of appreciation for the importance of politcal power. he suggests looking for organizations that understand the political forces in the country.

4. Lack of commitment.  Focusing on just the immediate disaster and leaving during the rebuilding process.

Other posts warn people to avoid just going to the country thinking they can help, or from sending their own “care” packages. They claim that these just clog the ports and don’t take into account the transportation and other logistical challenges of getting these donations to people.

Rod Collins wrote a good post in his wiki-management blog on this topic. I urge you to read it.

Eric Klein wrote a good blog post titled The 8 Types of Silence: How to Improve Communication when People aren’t Talking. It’s worth reading.

Too bad. Town hall meetings are part of the history and myth of what America is.  The town hall meetings we saw this past summer were a disgrace to what that forum could be. As Carolyn Lukensmeyer, founder of AmericaSpeaks said to The Washington Post, ” “faux town hall meetings that aren’t anything about deliberation. . . . People are coming in advocating the answer, they’re not coming in to learn anything about the options”  (WP 8/15/09)

Oddly enough, corporate town hall meetings tend to be the bizarro mirror images of those finger-pointing town halls of August. These meetings are often polite — way too polite — where little of substance is talked about. Or, when a real issue does get mentioned, some executive gives a 15 minute response filled with platitudes , run-on sentences and paragraphs until most listens cry uncle and tune out.

We can do much better. Carolyn’s group holds meetings for hundreds, sometimes thousands of people, where they can engage in dialogue (that means the structure allows and encourages listening, and building on the ideas of others).

Creators of large systems change processes have developed ingenious ways to encourage dialogue and collaboration. (Take FutureSearch or Real Time Strategic Change as just two examples.)

So proven models for civil discourse are already out there, and all we have to do is use them.

I”m someone who loves the new and novel. My preferences in the arts tend toward adventurous and experimental.  I try to perform jazz, an improvisational art form, and I sometimes use theater improv in my work.

But here I am walking the streets of Moscow (something I love to do when I first visit a city) and feeling a bit uneasy.  I walk aimlessly, so far so good, and then I check my map. (more…)

I was quoted in Lin Grensing-Pophal’s online article Getting Even in Human Resource Executive Online. The foucs of the article  Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that employees are increasingly reacting to their layoffs and terminations with varying degrees of revenge. HR leaders need to create processes and procedures that minimize that risk. I hope you’ll take a look.

I just posted an interview with Patricia Husband, a librarian who was in a class I gave a few years ago. She sent me an e-mail telling me how she was using the ideas I presented. My curiosity (or perhaps my ego) compelled me to call her and set up an interview. Members of the free Change Management Open Source Project can hear this Podcast and access a lot of other free resources, including the e-book Introduction to Change without Migraines.

Changing a company is tough: only about 40% of transformation programs succeed, according to McKinsey research. But some change programs have a better chance than others: defensive transformations (those undertaken to stem trouble) have lower success rates than progressive ones (launched, for instance, to boost growth or to move from good to great performance). Trigger events matter, too. Some change programs are initiated proactively, while others are undertaken in reaction to external shocks, market pressure, or poor financial performance. Our research finds that most successful transformations are those that are both offensive and proactive — we call them “progressive” — which have a 47% success rate. Defensive transformations have a 34% rate of success.

Source: Creating Organizational Transformations: McKinsey Global Survey Results

by way of the Daily Stat, Harvard Business Publishing