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The Change Agent’s Dilemma:
Building Momentum for Change
Cris Hagen
Often, the biggest hurdle to overcome in any large-scale change has nothing to do with getting agreement on the need for change, but rather it’s about other, more complex issues like: Building a burning platform; Gaining direct executive involvement; and Creating a common roadmap for change. As an internal change agent, getting traction to successfully launch a change initiative is often a tougher challenge than it seems. What are the reasons for this? See if one of the following scenarios sounds familiar:
The “Not Invented Here” Scenario:
The mandate for change is clear, and the platform is burning. But the CEO has delegated the task of determining the best approach to his staff. So, they have their marching orders (“We need to change!”), but everyone has different ideas on what needs to change and how to best change it. Six Sigma, TQM, BPR, Socio-Technical Systems, Lean Manufacturing, Concurrent Engineering, Downsizing, etc…..Everyone has a preferred methodology. But since nobody can agree on one best approach, the internal political struggles result in nothing being done at all.
The “Many Points of Light” Scenario:
A similar scenario to the one above, this is slightly different in that each staff organization implements its own preferred approach with little thought given to how their approach will impact the organization as a whole. Each group wants to do the right thing, and firmly believes that they are. Multiple projects and training programs are launched under the “Banner du Jour” (see list above), but all of them end up competing for the same scarce resources of time, money, and people. Senior management often tolerates this strategy for change, believing that some change is better than no change, and hoping that sooner or later everyone will come around to “salute the same flag”. The hope is that many points of light, after all, will brighten a dark room…..even if it’s the wrong room.
Why do scenarios like this occur in organizations? Here are some of the reasons we’ve seen, and some suggestions for addressing them:
Successful Change Requires Three Ingredients
The three major ingredients of a successful formula for change are:
If any of one of these is missing or weak, the chances for a successful change initiative fall off dramatically. Just because the CEO establishes the mandate for change, it doesn’t always hold true that everyone will sign and agree to change. Nor does it mean that they will follow a common strategy or roadmap for change. If everyone has a different idea of what needs to change or how things should change, the change quickly initiative becomes diluted, and everyone spins their wheels trying to gain traction. Let’s look at each of these ingredients in more depth, and discuss the role of the effective change agent in ensuring that each ingredient is present.
1. Creating the Burning Platform
There has got to be a strong business reason for change. Leaders in successful companies have a hard sell with initiating change when nothing appears to be “broken”. Even selling the idea that “there’s always room for improvement” is usually insufficient to build the required momentum for a successful change program. So if your company’s stock is doing well, market share is growing, sales are increasing, quality is a non-issue, and profitability is a sure-thing, getting support for change is likely going to fail…..unless, that is, the CEO can “build a platform and set it on fire”.
To help the CEO do this, the internal change agent needs to have a good grasp of the business, and to work closely with the CEO and executive team to think out 3-5 years regarding competitive and market dynamics, new technology trends, merger and acquisition strategies, new product introduction opportunities, operational core competencies, etc. in order to assess future strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analyses). This kind of thinking often helps identify a potential “burning platform”, for which a business case can be built to proactively implement change.
2. Building Direct Executive Involvement
How many of us over the course of our careers as change agents haven’t, at one time or another, created a script and presentation for the CEO to give, plopped him or her in front of a microphone, and hit the “play” button in order to get a change initiative launched? Often, it’s the only opportunity we have to get direct leadership “involvement” in leading change. Unfortunately, however, this is all too often the only level of support we are able to achieve.
There is a management axiom that goes something like this: “The system responds to what management pays attention to”. And in this case, “attention” means “voting with their feet”, not just with their mouth. When the CEO delegates the responsibility for leading change, it is the death knell for the change initiative. The CEO must buy in not only to the need for change, but to the fact that he or she will need to place it at the top of their agenda on a daily basis.
For internal change agents, securing this level of executive involvement is probably the most challenging, complex, and politically charged task that they will ever face in their careers. Lean too much one way and you’re perceived by the CEO as a “rabble rouser” or, worse yet, as “having your head in the clouds”. Lean too much the other way, and you’re seen as an ineffectual staff person who should probably get busy conducting more supervisory training programs.
Successful strategies for building direct executive involvement fall into the following general categories:
Build operational credibility: Take on managing a line function in addition to your responsibilities as a change agent. If you can’t do that, build a strong alliance with someone in charge of a line operation and who has strong credibility with senior management. Demonstrate that you can help that leader achieve bottom line results, and leverage that into gaining sponsorship for a joint conversation with the CEO or executive team about how you can contribute to the organization as a whole.
Use outside consulting support: Leverage a relationship with an external consultant who understands your business and can help you build a case for change with the CEO or executive staff. Often, a partnership with an external consultant leverages their business and operational acumen with your in-depth understanding of the organizational and political landscape to create a “force multiplier” for positive change.
Leverage the chain of command: If you have a strong relationship with your boss and your boss’s boss, and if they possess the credibility to position you with the CEO or executive team as a “key player”, you can often gain an audience to offer your ideas and gain support. Of course, you often only have one chance to present your case, so this strategy carries significantly more risk than the others. Also, if you come off looking bad, you can sometimes lose the “safety net” afforded by your own management team.
Build cross-functional alliances: Identify those individuals and managers across the organization with whom you can build alliances and gain support. This is not always easy because they are often working their own agendas to get an audience with the CEO. Your credibility with peers is based on your ability to listen to, and weave together the common threads of their concerns and goals into a cohesive strategy for change that everyone can support. You may have to give up a little initially, but often the overall gains outweigh some of the compromises made during the journey. That’s not to suggest that you give up on deep-seated values, but rather that you be willing to compromise a bit on “how” things get done.
3. Creating a Common Roadmap for Change
There are really two tasks implied in this ingredient. The first is creating the roadmap; the other (more difficult one) is making it a “common” roadmap that everyone in the organization follows.
The old saying goes, “There are many ways to skin a cat”. That may be true, but to gain acceptance in your organization, your approach for change has got to meet the following criteria:
1. It is proven: If you can’t point to cases where your “program” or change strategy has achieved bottom line results, you may as well be selling snake oil. Likewise, it has to achieve increased employee commitment and morale, or it will never last the test of time.
2. It achieves an appropriate level of employee involvement: Too much or too little employee involvement will kill any change initiative. Too much, and it will die under its own weight. Too little, and it will be “booed” out of the company before it ever gets a chance to get started.
3. It can be taught: If people in the organization can’t learn how to do it themselves, they will never buy it. What company wants to maintain dependence on some expert consultant for years and years?
4. It can be tailored to the company culture and environment: The “not invented here” syndrome will kill a good change initiative every time. There has to be ownership of the methodology, or the goal will never be achieved.
5. It must be led (the first time) by someone who has done it before: Just as you wouldn’t want to be a passenger in an airplane where the pilot has learned to fly from reading a book, you wouldn’t want to be a participant in a change initiative led by someone without “hands on” experience.
The role of the successful change agent is fraught with many dilemmas and challenges. Getting help should not be viewed as a sign of weakness, but as a sign of maturity and insight. Leveraging external consultants to provide critical support or even to take an occasional “bullet” can (if used wisely) be of value in building the necessary support and momentum for a successful change initiative. Colluding with, or avoiding dysfunctional organization dynamics may be successful short term strategies for the internal change agent, but in the long term they will lead to stagnation and long term career dissatisfaction.