1. University of Texas
at Dallas
Integrated Organizational Development
The LIFO® Method – The Cultural Change Tool of Choice in the 21st Century
UTD School of Management
The Leadership Center and Executive Education

2. The University of Texas at Dallas
The Leadership Center and Executive Education
The University of Texas at Dallas’ School of Management’s Leadership
Center and Executive Education are strategic business and people-
solutions partners with extensive skills in Organizational Effectiveness,
Leadership Development, Business Strategy and Large-Scale
Organizational Change Implementation….
in addition to world-class Executive Education
University of Texas at Dallas and Business…
creating a competitive advantage for our business partners
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3. Introduction
Models and Tools of Change Management
1. Definitions of Change and Management
2. Leadership Challenges of Change
3. Tools and Techniques to Effectively
Implement Cultural Change –
The LIFO Method
®
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4. Definitions of Change
Webster’s Dictionary - to put or take (a
thing) in place of something else; substitute
for, replace with, or transfer to another of a
similar kind.
Synonym - change denotes a making of
something distinctly different and implies
either a radical transmutation of character or
replacement with something else.
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5. Examples of Change in Organizations
Structural Change - The Organization Chart
Process Change - change the way we perform
functions
Technological Change - new tools for performing
work
Behavioral Change - altering the
way people behave at work.
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6. Behavioral Change
Structural, Process and Technological Change - all
function to change behavior.
Feedback - living systems require feedback as a
means of adjustment and adaptation.
So all change is focused on changing behaviors.
Changing behavior is what makes change so
difficult. 6

7. Cultures are changed ...
Creating A Shared Need For Change
... incrementally ... radically
Near-term Vision
Near-term Vision Long-term
Long-term
Vision
Vision
Transactional Transformational
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8. Small Scale Change
Operational Improvement
Continuous Improvement of processes
– small scale = incremental
Re-engineering of a process
– small scale / transformational
Changing behavior is the ONLY
effective way to change cultures 8

9. Leadership Challenges of Change
Planned Change - anticipated and
accumulated knowledge.
Unplanned Change - unanticipated and
knowledge often unavailable.
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10. Herbert Simon - 1987 - Nobel
Laureate in Economics
It is in fact, the Social Sciences that should
be labeled the “hard sciences.”
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11. Behavioral Barriers to Change
Fear and Anxiety
Turf Protection
Excessive Politics
Excessive Game-playing
Cynicism
We’ve Seen This Before
Saboteurs
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12. Behavioral Barriers to Change
Undiscussable Issues
We’ve Always Done It This Way
What’s in It For Me? – “Wiifm”
Learned Incompetence
Defensive Routines - It Can’t Be My Fault!
Excessive Self-interest
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13. Behavioral Barriers to Change
Honest Disagreement
Attributions About Peoples’ Motives
Not Enough Time
Excessive Competition
Short-term Thinking
Excessive Focus on The Bottom-line
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14. Leadership’s Role in Driving Change
Generating Trust
Communicating a Coherent Vision
of the Intended Change
Ensuring the Vision Is Shared
Communicate Reasons for Change
Identifying and Leveraging Key
Stakeholders
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15. Leadership’s Role in Driving Change
Fostering Cooperation and Team Building
Generating Consensus
Identifying Sources of Resistance
Listening
Managing the Stress
Maintaining Openness
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16. Tools and Techniques
For Effective Cultural Change
The LIFO Method ®
The tool of choice to change
cultures in the 21st century
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17. The LIFO Method
The tool of choice in the 21st century
Staying in the Productive Zone
Tracking Individual and Team Productivity
Doing Too Little Doing Too Much
Least Preferred Most Preferred
Strengths Strengths
Just Enough
Do More Do Less
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18. Tools and Techniques for Effective Change
In Technical-Centric Environments
The process of embedded change (embedded vs. temporary) is
systematic
The process begins with a vision that must be shared with all
stakeholders and be reinforced throughout the process
The single, most critical factor is helping people self-discover four
key elements, all related to behavior:
1. The behavior you demonstrate is not universally perceived the same way
you see it
2. How you behave under favorable conditions may be far different from your
behavior under adverse conditions
3. Why people see you differently (verbal feedback from subordinates, peers,
leaders)
4. Why you should alter your behavior to accept the change in behavior
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19. The LIFO Feedback Process
The process is reasonably easy to implement,
with complexity coming in the subtleness of
allowing the time and energy for reflection
and open and frank discussions among the
participants.
There are five separate and distinct elements,
following the completion of the LIFO Survey
and facilitating the process of completing the
pages contained in the LIFO workbooks. They
include each participant performing the steps
summarized on the following slides.
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20. Getting Ready
Organize the participants into discussion
groups, with 3 – 5 members per group. The
members of each group should belong to
the same functional team or work closely
together if possible.
Assign each discussion group to a separate
table.
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21. The LIFO Feedback Process
1. Each participant place a total of five red stickers on
(INSIDE) the LIFO Strength Feedback Chart.
Three must be placed in the MOST PREFERRED
quadrant of the chart, with the remaining two
placed against the two behavioral characteristics
that best describe that individual under favorable
conditions, regardless of the quadrant.
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22. The LIFO Feedback Process
2. Each participant places their initials on three blue
stickers for each table team member, not including
their own.
These must be placed on the OUTSIDE of the LIFO
Strength Feedback Charts next to the three
behavioral characteristics that best describe that
individual under favorable conditions.
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23. The LIFO Feedback Process
3. Each participant then initial three orange stickers
for each “sister” team member, (table team closest
to them) and place them on the OUTSIDE of the
LIFO Strength Feedback Wall Chart next to the
three behavioral characteristics that best describe
that individual under favorable conditions.
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24. The LIFO Feedback Process
4. Each participant then initials one yellow sticker for
each participant in the room (except themselves).
In clockwise order, they place one sticker for each
participant on the OUTSIDE of the LIFO Strength
Feedback Wall Chart that best describes this person’s
behavior under adverse or stressful conditions.
People will often ask, “what if I don’t know this person
well?” Your response should be that first impressions
are very often the most lasting, and also quite often
correct.
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25. The LIFO Feedback Process
5. Each participant initial one green sticker for each
table team member, and place it on the OUTSIDE
of the LIFO Strength Feedback Wall Chart next to
the one behavioral characteristic that you would
most like to see more of from that individual.
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26. The LIFO Feedback Process
At this point, a pattern has developed and it’s time to allow teams,
pairs and small groups to provide feedback for why they provided
a sticker against a particular behavioral characteristic.
This feedback process is invaluable and helps the recipient to self
discover the perception of their peers and others against their own
perception of demonstrated behavior.
An additional step in the overall process that helps optimize the
results is to have participants take the LIFO Strength Feedback
Wall Chart back to their workplace and ask that peers,
subordinates and leaders place similar stickers on it. This tends to
validate the “controlled” environment values realized, will
facilitate further interest and tend to embed the cultural change
deeper into the organization. We have also found that this last step
tends to solidify the desire to modify behavior.
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27. Closing the Loop
Another critical step in the process is to sustain the
momentum of change. To do that successfully, leaders
must create a learning organization destined for
continuous improvement
The recommended instrument to be used in this phase is
Competency Modeling…gain the respect of your people,
document their career aspirations, identify the gaps and
create learning interventions to close them…a closed loop
system!
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28. Organizational Change Key Points
io n LIF
r ce pt OR
ss / Pe esu
lt s /
ne Fee
are
Aw Purpose Communicationback d
Alignment,
Trust
&
Support
Accountability
Sus Execution ehavior
t ai n B
Cha Modify
nge
s
The LIFO Method impacts each element of change
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29. Summary
When instruments such as the LIFO Method are applied as an
integral part of organizational culture change, particularly in tech-
centric environments, the results are predictable…but only if the
facilitator and leaders allow the time, space and tools for all to
self discover the need to change
The LIFO Method has been applied in many different change
initiatives, and it continues to prove that when properly used, it is
one of the most effective change tools on the market today
The LIFO Method should be used as an integral part of a large-
scale initiative for change, with the overall process well designed
and tailored to the targeted organization
Communication must be at the forefront of all change initiatives
and leadership must persevere through all levels of resistance,
regardless of where it comes from
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30. The Tools: Vision, Process, Communication,
Perseverance, Attitude and Behavior
The business that sustains successful change will
have a competitive advantage in the 21 st century
The l eader s who
enabl es c ul t ur al
c hange t hr ough
t he peopl e wi l l
be m tos
s uc c es s f ul !
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31. Questions
For additional assistance or clarification, Dr. Newstead may be
contacted at either The University of Texas at Dallas at
jrnewstead@utdallas.edu
My personal thank you to each of you for your
attention and interest in this topic
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