This document discusses organizational change and what is needed for successful change leadership. It notes that most change failures are due to inadequate leadership and engagement rather than lack of resources. Successful change requires political skill, emotional resilience, and challenging existing mindsets. Leaders must role model new behaviors, enable local adaptation, and build capabilities for continuous improvement, political awareness, inspiration, and emotional intelligence.

1. The State of Change
What we know about organisations
experiencing change and what it means for the
way we lead and manage them .
Colin Jones FCIPD
Director, Ashfield Consulting
July 10th 2013
www.ashfield-consulting.com

2. In a Nutshell
• Organisations operate in increasingly complex and uncertain
business environments in which the ability to manage change
has never been more crucial
• Most reported ‘change failures’ and delays are put down to
inadequate leadership and engagement rather than insufficient
resources or technical capability.
• The ‘rational’ case may fail to account for impact of politics,
pre- existing mindsets, and ‘emotional’ resistance on the plan
• Leaders therefore require political nous, emotional resilience
and preparedness to challenge existing ways of working, no
matter how successful or troubled the company is .

3. Organisations
• Are dynamic systems facing continuing challenges of external
adaptation and internal integration
• The more complex and uncertain the external environment, the more
decentralised and flexible the organisational structure and control
systems need to be.
• High Performing ones achieve a good internal alignment of strategy,
structure, business processes, reward systems, and talent
management.
• All are designed to create differentiated responsibilities , priorities and
perspectives and interests – so conflicting views and tensions will
always exist and need to be managed constructively
• Increasingly form part of networks or ‘business ecosystems’, reliant on
the capabilities and success of other organisations to deliver success
for themselves

4. Large Scale Change
• The building blocks of delivering large scale change are well
understood but 70 % programmes fail to achieve their objectives
• A ‘burning platform’ message creates the necessary urgency but can
be demotivating or destabilising if too negative.
• Successful change strategies therefore need to build on the existing
‘positive core’ as well as identifying and addressing challenges and
weaknesses.
• Communication typically fails when high level messages aren’t put in
a way which engages or motivates those affected by the change.
Ensuring relevance or encouraging local interpretation of the
message is therefore important
• Initiatives are most quickly discredited when senior managers fail to
role model the new behaviours or use the new processes required by
the change

5. Planned or Emergent change
• In complex change environments a rigid top down
structured plan is unlikely to be effective
• Local Experimentation, the use of Pilots and Adaptation of
Plans to changing circumstances will deliver better
performance
• Leadership of such change initiatives should focus on
building organizational and individual capabilities to
change, rather than providing detailed direction and strong
control

6. Marshak’s Hidden Dimensions of
Change
• Politics : People act out of their own interest, most of the time also
believing this to be best for the organisation too. Mapping and
accounting for these interests in change planning is essential.
• Inspiration: Visions or Values which appeal to the heart or to peoples
better instincts, can unlock energy and commitment not accessed by
purely rational visions, strategies and analysis
• Mindsets : Change Strategies are frequently limited by perceptions of
what is possible or experiences of what has worked/ not worked in the
past – particularly in successful companies
• Emotions : People experience change at an emotional level –
understanding the motivations and processes at play can improve the
design and implementation
• Personality : Individual opposition to change may be a product of
deeper psychological issues. Having the skills and strategies to identify
and deal with such issues will strengthen the change programme

7. Motivation and Engagement
• Generally, difficult or ‘stretch’ goals do motivate more than easy or ‘do
your best’ goals – up to a point
• Beyond that point anxiety or stress will result in diminished
effectiveness as people ‘close down’. This tipping point differs for
different people and according to circumstances
• ‘Buy-in’ to change does not vary significantly with the degree of
involvement ; the real ‘engagement’ benefit is in the greater quality
and range of ideas generated
• Individuals can interpret the same event differently and consequently
behave or respond differently ; focusing purely on changing behaviour
without understanding the underlying beliefs may be ineffective
• Extrinsic Motivators – carrots and sticks – can reinforce desired short
term behaviour change but have an adverse impact on creativity and
innovation, since they narrow people’s focus

8. Resistance to Change
• Sometimes organsational inertia can stem from the working of current
systems and processes – changing these processes is the easiest
change to implement
• Personal resistance can often follow the ‘change cycle’ – denial –
anger- bargaining- acceptance, adaptation- an accepted framework
for describing people’s normal reactions on the receiving end of
change.
• Where people seem committed but don’t act, there may well be
unexpressed competing commitments – beliefs or priorities – also
known as’ secondary gains’ which prevent them from changing.
• Simlarly teams, department or organisations may commit to a new
approach, but without addressing underlying beliefs and ways of
working may be unable to achieve the desired change.

9. Change Capabilities
• Continuous Improvement : data analysis, process improvement, goal
setting, problem solving and risk assessment are ‘rational’ foundation
capabilities for maaging change
• Political acumen : Mapping differing stakeholders interests and
motivation, identifying sources of power and blockage, building
coalitions and alliances, and modifying proposals to get support may be
needed to get things done
• Inspiration: Leaders need followers : role modelling desired behaviour,
creating shared visions, challenging existing ways of working, enabling
others to contribute and act, will create the momentum and higher
performance
• Emotional Intelligence : Leading people through change requires self
awareness, self discipline, empathy and the ability to build relationships
and manage conflict