MANAGING FOR A BETTER WORLD
Major corporate change makeovers have a miserable success rate and despite our knowing quite a lot about how change works, around three-quarters of change efforts fail, writes Kate Kearins.
Work out what needs changing.
A COLLEAGUE RECENTLY joked that “Once we had got through the current round of change then there would not need to be any more changes in the business school for a couple of years.” Yeah, right!
The reality is that change is our constant companion. Not for its own sake, but because we live in dynamic times. We need to anticipate trends and also be able to respond to them.
We are wired for a degree of sameness and routine – and a degree of variety and change. The tolerance for continuity and change can vary across individuals and over time.
Managers have quite an influence over how their teams see and respond to change. One team in our organisation tends to respond to even quite massive change proposals with a hearty “bring it on”, while another appears quite change averse. With the glory of transformation in mind, we might want to reward the change enthusiasts. But is the first team on the right track? Research would suggest not.
In a recent Harvard Business Review article titled “What everyone gets wrong about change management”, N Anand and Jean-Louis Barsoux say that managers get stuck on execution – the how to change piece of the puzzle. Before worrying about execution, we need to work out what to change. What's broken? What's not working as well as it could be? And does it still need doing even?
“Often organisations pursue the wrong changes – especially in complex and fast-moving environments, where decisions about what to transform in order to remain competitive can be hasty and misguided,” say Anand and Barsoux.
These researchers point out that major corporate change makeovers have a miserable success rate, despite our knowing quite a lot about how change works. Around three-quarters of change efforts fail. They either don't deliver the promised benefits or the change programme itself founders. Enthusiasm for, and belief in the big idea was insufficient.
Curbing our enthusiasm for change in order to ensure success means choosing the right change project, not being seduced by one that will not deliver hoped-for benefits, and not muddying the waters with competing projects. Good change is ultimately about making good choices.
“It can be useful to think of value generation and leadership development as the chariot wheels that support a transformation, and the quest as the horse that provides direction and momentum. Alignment among the three is critical,” say Anand and Barsoux.
So as managers, it's about deciding priorities, and the ifs, whats and whens to change. We need to avoid dichotomising. There are many more choices than pursuing one particular strategic option and doing nothing.
And those good choices are increasingly informed by data. Change management is becoming more data driven and a little less about appetite and enthusiasm for change.
So, will there be more changes in my organisation, my work and life and in yours? You bet. The beginning of the year is one time that we tend to go a bit gung ho on resolutions for change. Ideas for change projects that come to mind while you are on holiday need proper testing before being implemented back in the office.
Professor Kate Kearins is professor of management and pro vice chancellor and dean of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law at Auckland University of Technology.