1. 5!M
‘There are many approaches, but few
5!M
arrivals.’
‘A! the isms are now wasms.’
5!M is an action framework,
designed to help support and
motivate those managing or
leading change.
FRAMEWORK
It is a simple and memorable
FOR CHANGE
resource. It makes accessible and
relevant the wide ranging body of
5M ACTION FRAMEWORK
knowledge and techniques known
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for’
as change management.
it is not the same river and he is not the same
It is a guide for action and man.”
reflection. It is not a technique.
CHANGE!
Heraclitus, On the Universe, Fragment 41
The key question is not what the
framework does for you. It is what
you can do with the framework.
All of the knowledge required to
manage change is already inside
you. It just needs to be brought INSPIRING CHANGE
Richard J Badham
Macquarie Graduate School of Management
out and focused on the tasks T: 0417 207554 E-mail richard.badham@mgsm.edu.au
ahead. This is the purpose of
5!M

2. MANAGING & LEADING CHANGE
Managing change is the art of influencing yourself and other people to achieve a purpose As an
exercise in leadership, it involves deciding what to do and getting others (and oneself!) to do it. The
5!M framework helps in both the planning process and the action phase. It supports effective and
improved performance by introducing principles for action, instilling an experimental ethos and
guiding reflection.
“It is a game that can only be played, not won!”
A C T I O N : M I N D F U L & M O B I L I S I N G
Bobby Jones Stroke of Genius
Managing change is a contact sport. It is about taking action in conditions of
Leading change involves coming to terms with some
uncertainty and conflict. The first dimension of successful action is being
discomforting uncertainties.
ongoingly mindful of complexity and the likelihood and dangers of things going
wrong. It is also about being prepared to take action to address problems.
There is no simple ‘change’ that can be controlled. This leads to the second dimension, that of effectively mobilising the intelligence,
emotions and actions of all involved. This is essential to overcome the inevitable
All organisations, and the people within them -
barriers and bring ‘dreams’ into reality. MOBILISING
MINDFUL
including you - are continuously changing. Your
initiative is intertwined with other changes that are
TA S K S : MAPS, MASKS
out of your control.
But what is to be done? Like every journey, change requires a degree of
planning. This is the case even if this is only informed strategic intent. It requires
The intelligence and energy required to bring about mapping out the nature of the change, the conditions along the way, and the
route to take. Yet a good map does not guarantee a successful journey. Planned
successful change cannot just come from you. You
actions have to be performed. Influence over mindsets and emotions has to be
are inevitably working with people and conditions
exerted. In so doing, we inevitably adopt a variety of masks (or persona) that may
that are already moving, complex and in tension and be more or less credible, engaging and effective. We find ourselves playing
inspirational or coercive roles, participating in rituals of reward and punishment MAPS MASKS
transition - and you are only one amongst many.
and so on. How well we ‘perform’ is where the rubber meets the road!
Your every initiative is a gamble, and resistance to
& MIRRORS
change may be from you as well as others. A key
In conditions of uncertainty and change, plans are hypotheses, actions are
leadership action is stepping away from comforting
experiments. Timely, relevant and accurate feedback on how things are going is
essential. As is acceptance of such feedback, and constructive and proactive
platitudes about change. It means coming to terms
adaptation to unexpected consequences and the tyranny of circumstance. Yet
with this complexity and lack of control, and
individuals, and organisations, often resist or deny unexpected or unwanted
creatively forging a meaningful change program. It reflections. We often see what we want to see, are used to seeing or is prescribed.
MIRRORS
The creation of useful mirrors (or learning spaces) is a key challenge of change.
requires informed action.