Presented at the North Jersey ASQ: Spring Quality Conference 2014 and the Morris County, NJ SHRM Group February 2015

1. Leading Organizational Change: Three
Dimensions of OrganizationsThat
Leaders MUST Address if LeadersWant
Change to Really Happen
Presented by…
Gary F. Best, Ph.D.
Organizational Psychologist
PerformanceBest, LLC
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2. Today’s Conversation
 TheThree Dimensions of Organizations
 The Dynamics of Change in theThree
Dimensions
 Three Change Models Currently Used
 A New Approach to Leading Change
 Bringing It AllTogether…Using All the
Dimensions to Lead Effective Change
 Questions
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3. TheThree Organizational Dimensions that
Leaders Must Consider to Lead a Successful
Change Effort
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4. Dimension One: Formal Hierarchies
 Well understood & appreciated
 Visible
 Historic area of academic study
 Authority comes from an individual’s position in
the hierarchy
 Decision making
 Spending (budget)
 Hiring / Firing
 Rules & processes are documented and public
 Reporting relationships are clear
 Formal communication channels are clear
 Expertise is assumed based on role and level
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© 2005 Netform, Inc. © 2005 Karen Stephenson

5. DimensionTwo: Informal Networks
 Not well understood or appreciated
 Invisible
 Newer area of study crossing multiple academic disciplines
 The network is not clear…even to the players in the network
 Status in the network is based on trust
 Trust has three dimensions (1)…..
 Competence…a player is capable
 Contractual…a player does what she says she will
 Communication…a player’s word is good and true
 Trust can be lost…your position in the network is earned and
earned again….it’s not appointed by a higher authority
 Key players in the trust networks are not recognized by the
players in the hierarchies
 The players in the hierarchies only recognize 30% to 50% of the
players in the informal networks …which means the hierarchy is blind
to 50% to 70% of the players in the network
 The informal trust networks are more powerful than the
hierarchy….and a major reason why change efforts fail
 Kotter introduces “networklike” structures to help drive
change in his latest book, Accelerate (2) (2012/14)
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© 2005 Netform, Inc. © 2005 Karen Stephenson

6. EightTrust Networks
Formal Hierarchy Informal Networks
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Increasing Levels ofTrust
Career Network (Outside of formal systems)
Innovation Network (Change it now!)
Social Network (Trust lite)
Expertise Network (Built the present )
Strategy Network (Leaders at the top)
Decision Network (Work the system)
Work Network (Transactional)
Learning Network (Integrate old & new)

7. DimensionThree: Humans and our Brains
The Human Brain….
 Loves to hardwire—estimates suggest we spend
85 – 90% of our waking time on “auto pilot”
 Doesn’t like gaps in the storyline…the brain fills
in blanks in the information we take in and then
treats its additions as fact….
 Defaults to hardwired behaviors when under
stress
 Is additive concerning information, not
discrete…this means that our memories are not
of discrete events, but made up of elements of all
similar events we participated in.
 Will “turn off” the Prefrontal Cortex and turn
“thinking” over to the Amygdala in high stress,
high pressure or other tense situations
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8. The Dynamics of Change in theThree Dimensions
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9. The Naturesof Change
 In the formal hierarchy change is understood…
consciously or unconsciously… as mechanistic, linear
and top down…
 Here, there are Change Sponsors, Change Agents and
ChangeTargets
 In the informal networks change is organic, trust driven
and more prevalent in some networks (Strategy,
Innovation & Learning)…
 Here there are trusted change guides who influence
the thinking of members of the network
 In the human brain change is about turning off a
mental map (or neural network) and creating a new
mental map that directs new behavior
 Here change is about knowledge creation or learning
which creates a new mental map that results in
someone behaving differently
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10. The Process of Change in the Formal Hierarchies
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Shouldwechangesomething?
Wave 1
Wave 2
Wave 3
W 1 initiates the idea of change and talks among
themselves while they decide “change / no change”.
It’s low risk for the sponsors
W1 introduces the idea of change toW2—who has
to catch up with the idea and then design the
change for W1. It’s high risk for the change agents
W2 introduces the idea of change toW3 who has to
catch up with the idea and the design asW2 asksW3
to implement the change for W1. It’s very high risk
for the change targets

11. The Process of Change in the Informal Networks
Change
Modeled
Modeled
Change
Adopted
Modeled
Change
Adopted
Modeled
Change
Adopted
Modeled
Change
Rejected
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12. The Process of Change in the Human Brain
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 Through conscious effort on our part, the brain
stops using an existing neural network that was
developed over time and that enabled a certain
behavior (unfreeze)
 Through deliberate practice we consciously begin
to develop a new neural network that will enable
a different behavior (change)
 Overtime this conscious effort takes hold and the
new neural network becomes “hardwired” or
second nature (refreeze)
 Early efforts at change will result in failures and
the less determined will discontinue the effort to
create a new neural network and revert back to
using the old network
This is a 3-D view of connections in the brain originating from different cortical
areas.
New maps may hold clues to brain mysteries. By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
CNN.com, 2 April 2014

13. Three Change Models Currently in Use
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14. TheirApproach
Lewin (3) (1947)
1. Unfreeze
2. Change
3. Refreeze
Burke-Litwin (4) (1992)
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External Environment
1. Mission and strategy
2. Leadership
3. Organization culture
Management Practices
1. Structure
2. Work unit climate
3. Systems
Individual Capacity
1. Motivation
2. Task requirements and
individual knowledge,
skills and approaches
3. Individual needs and
values
Kotter (5) (1996)
1. Establish urgency
2. Create guiding coalition
3. Develop vision / strategy
4. Communicate the vision
5. Empower employees
6. Generate short term wins
7. Consolidate gains
8. Anchor change in the
culture
NEW--Begins to address and
account for “networklike”
structures in his book
“Accelerate”.

15. And Each ModelTells Us…..
Lewin tells us how change happens and by inference what you need to do
Burke-Litwin tells us the organizational levers that have to be addressed
for change to be effective
Kotter tells us the steps you need to take and the order they should be
taken for change to be effective
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16. Their Focus Areas and Assumptions
Lewin
Focus on
 Change process
Assumptions
 Leaders and
managers know what
organizational areas
to manipulate
 And how to
manipulate them
Burke-Litwin
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Focus on
 Components and structures
Assumptions
 Leaders and managers know
what they must do
 Managers know how to plan
and sequence the change
 Change can be managed
 The organization is a system
and all of the moving parts have
to be considered
Kotter
Focus on
 Tasks to complete
Assumptions
 Change is linear and
top-down
 Leaders and managers
know what
organizational areas to
manipulate
 And how to manipulate
them
 Change can be managed
 NEW—to be successful,
change needs a second,
parallel operating
system, a “networklike
structure” focused on
strategy

17. The Problem
the research, on effective change management and effective change efforts
shows that 60-70% of all change efforts undertaken have failed…..
So what’s going on here???
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18. A New Approach to Leading Change
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19. A New Approach
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1. Direct the Rider
 Find the bright spots
 Script the critical moves
 Point to the destination
2. Motivate the Elephant
 Find the feeling
 Shrink the challenge
 Grow your people
3. Shape the Path
 Tweak the environment
 Build habits
 Rally the herd
Heath & Heath(6) (2010)

20. Key Focus Areas and Assumptions
Heath & Heath
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Focus on
 Individuals, the brain and
informal networks to drive
change
Assumptions
 Change begins with a single
individual or a small group of
individuals and spreads
 Change is complex and adaptive
 Change is multi faceted
 Change is circuitous
 Change is organic and
influenced…not mechanical and
directed

21. This New ApproachTells Us
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 ….how to guide and
influence change
 It doesn’t suggest
that change can be
“completely
managed” or “fully
controlled”

22. The BIGTake-away from this model is to….
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…remember the role of the brain in change
 The Rider represents your pre-frontal cortex—
the brains “executive” function.You do your
heavy lift thinking using the pre-frontal cortex
 The Elephant represents your amygdala…an
ancient part of the brain that when activated
initiates your fight, flight or appease response
 When under stress or in unfamiliar territory (a
change situation) your amygdala can be
activated…and when the amygdala is
activated the pre-frontal cortex becomes
much less active
 The upshot is that when you need clear, rational
thinking the most…you don’t have it! And that’s
a problem
Remember the Elephant and the Rider (7)

23. Bringing It AllTogether….Using All the Dimensions to
Lead Effective Change
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24. Recognize the Impact Point
 This means understanding change first
and foremost as originating as an
individual experience…not as an
“organization” experience.
 Again, the key is to understand change
first and foremost as originating as an
individual experience…as an
“organizing” experience not as an
“organization” experience
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To Effectively Lead Change,You Must…..

25. Recognize how change operates
 Change operates as a complex adaptive
system and not as a mechanical, top-
down effort
 When you can view change as a
complex adaptive system, by definition,
you are required to consider and use all
of the dimensions discussed in this
presentation….
 The Formal Organization
 The informal trust networks
 The Rider and Elephant
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To Effectively Lead Change,You Must….

26. Developed by PerformanceBest, LLC

27. Sources
1. Reina, D. S. & Reina, M. L. (2006). Trust and Betrayal in theWorkplace: Building
Effective Relationships inYour Organization. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
2. Kotter, J.P. (2012). Accelerate!. Harvard Business Review: Reprint R211B
3. Schein, E. J. (1995). Kurt Lewin's ChangeTheory in the Field and in the Classroom:
NotesToward a Model of Managed Learning.Working Paper 3821. Revised July
1995
4. Burke,W.W. & Litwin, G. H. (1992). A Causal Model of Organizational
Performance & Change. Journal of Management, 18 (3), 523-545.
5. Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press
6. Heath, C. & Heath, D. (2010). Switch: How to ChangeThingsWhen Change is
Hard. NewYork: Broadway Books.
7. Haidt, J. (2006).The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding ModernTruth in Ancient
Wisdom. NewYork: Basic Books (Haidt developed the metaphor of the Rider and the Elephant, see page 4 & 5)
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