Well-Managed Change Can Be Transformational

Thoughts And Observations about Change Management:

“The business environment is constantly evolving. Economic fluctuations, technological disruptions, regulatory shifts, and competitive pressures demand that companies be able to adjust their goals and strategies. … Change management is a broad term for the many ways of preparing, supporting, and helping businesses, teams, and organizations adapt to, thrive through and initiate change.”   Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, MBA ., - U.S. banker, Managing Partner of Mayflower-Plymouth Capital , writer, author of Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance.

“Companies that change may survive, but companies that transform thrive. Change brings incremental or small-scale adaptations, while transformation brings great improvements that ripple through the future of an organization.” Nick Candito 🌥 – U.S. business entrepreneur.

“Approximately 50 percent of all organizational change initiatives are unsuccessful, highlighting why knowing how to plan for, coordinate, and carry out change is a valuable skill for managers and business leaders alike. … Organizational change can be either adaptive or transformational: Adaptive changes are small, gradual, iterative changes that an organization undertakes to evolve its products, processes, workflows, and strategies over time. Hiring a new team member to address increased demand or implementing a new work-from-home policy to attract more qualified job applicants are both examples of adaptive changes. Transformational changes are larger in scale and scope and often signify a dramatic and, occasionally sudden, departure from the status quo. Launching a new product or business division, or deciding to expand internationally, are examples of transformational change.”  Posted August 22, 2023, on Harvard Business School Online by Kelsey Miller – U.S. marketing specialist, writer.

“A guideline for assessing the likely success of a proposed change requires evaluating three key elements: the leadership capacity and attention span for driving the change, the business need for the change, and the energy of affected people for and towards the change. …  Change management methods may be applied to any type of organizational change, including departmental mergers, technology implementation, creating team-based organizations and professional development.” From an Accenture report prepared by Jack Azagury – U.S. business consultant, Group Chief Executive -Consulting at Accenture and Karalee Close – Canadian business consultant, Lead Talent & Organization Global at Accenture.

“Every successful organization has to make the transition from a world defined primarily by repetition to one primarily defined by change. This is the biggest transformation in the structure of how humans work together since the Agricultural Revolution.” Bill Drayton – U.S. entrepreneur.

“Continuous change is the new reality—and navigating it effectively is essential to activating strategy and moving organizations forward. The age of generative AI is set to upend ideas of traditional change management (with) unprecedented shifts in market dynamics, technology and workforce expectations.”  From an Accenture report prepared by Jack Azagury – U.S. business consultant, Group Chief Executive -Consulting at Accenture and Karalee Close – Canadian business consultant, Lead Talent & Organization Global at Accenture.

“Change management through business paradigm shifting minimizes disruption and maximizes benefit. …  Business Paradigm Shifting helps companies stay agile in a rapidly changing market landscape … helps companies stay relevant to changing customer needs … allows companies to transform before they're forced to. Voluntary change is expensive, but it always costs less than forced change. … Helps companies stay ahead of the curve, not just react to it. You can't add real value for your customers if you're just reacting. … The pace of change demands a culture of continuous learning and innovation.” Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, MBA , - U.S. banker, Managing Partner of Mayflower-Plymouth Capital , writer, author of Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance.

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”  Winston Churchill -  U.K. statesman, military officer, U.K. Prime Minister.

“Change shouldn’t be treated as a singular occurrence when it is an ongoing, continued process and dynamic capability within the organization.”  Pearl Zhu – U.S. business executive, writer, author of Change Insight: Change as an Ongoing Capability to Fuel Digital Transformation.

“Organizations naturally decline, so for optimum results, actively experiment and continuously tweak.”  Chris Hutchinson – U.S. business executive, writer, author of Ripple: A Field Manual for Leadership that Works.

“Life is all about 'Continuous Never-Ending Change and Improvement' (CNECI) as we grow, develop and regenerate.”  Peter F. Gallagher – U.S. business consultant, writer, author of  Change Management Handbook: The Leadership of Change.

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent that will survive but those that can best manage change.”  Charles Darwin – U.S. scientist, naturalist, geologist.

“Creating change within the organization can make people balk, but ensuring that all parties understand why a change is necessary, how it benefits them and the organization as a whole and allowing them to give input on how to implement said changes leads teams to feel invested in the process.” Posted on Forbes on August 7, 2022, by Dana Miranda – U.S. financial journalist, Cassie Bottorff – U.S. journalist, and Rob Watts- U.K./German journalist.

“Average companies give their people something to work on. In contrast, the most innovative organizations get their people something to work toward.”  Simon Sinek – U.K. born/ U.S. author focusing on business leadership.

“Few things are more important during a change event than communication from leaders who can paint a clear and confidence-inspiring vision of the future.” Sarah Clayton – U.S. marketing executive.

“Transformations require a sense of urgency, a strong guiding team, and a sensible vision. … By far the biggest mistake people make when trying to change organizations is to plunge ahead without establishing a high-enough sense of urgency in fellow managers and employees.” John Kotter – U.S. academic, management consultant.

“Leaders who integrate change into their culture, aligning it with core purposes and values, do not just manage change – they inspire and facilitate it.”  From an Accenture report prepared by Jack Azagury – U.S. business consultant, Group Chief Executive -Consulting at Accenture and Karalee Close – Canadian business consultant, Lead Talent & Organization Global at Accenture.

“When the directives come from a select few, you skip the step of understanding what everyone else needs to effectively implement change. You also miss out on an opportunity to get them on board, so they’re eager to welcome change when it comes. Get representatives from across your organization involved at every stage of a change process—from identifying challenges and planning improvements to implementation and reflection. Getting the diverse many involved is your first step to moving change from something they feel they have to do to something they want to do.” Posted on Forbes on August 7, 2022, by Dana Miranda – U.S. financial journalist, Cassie Bottorff – U.S. journalist, and Rob Watts- U.K./German journalist.

“Change management methods are mostly targeted at understanding the human response to change and creating effective strategies for engaging people to achieve change. … Some individuals understand the necessity and implications of changes–others don’t. For example, managers are twice as likely as the C-suite to think change is happening too fast. For the organization to move forward as one, all need to agree on where the change is heading. Trust: Trust equals engagement. And the need is felt all around the organization. Only 25% of leaders believe their teams are prepared to embrace change, while only 42% of employees are confident in their own capabilities in the face of change.” From an Accenture report prepared by Jack Azagury – U.S. business consultant, Group Chief Executive -Consulting at Accenture and Karalee Close – Canadian business consultant, Lead Talent & Organization Global at Accenture.

“John Kotter’s eight-step process for leading change within an organization includes: 1 -Create a sense of urgency. Rather than simply presenting a change that’s going to happen, present an opportunity that helps the team see the need for change and want to make it happen. 2-Build a guiding coalition. This group of early adopters from among the diverse many will help communicate needs and initiatives to guide change. 3- Form a strategic vision and initiatives. Draw a picture of what life will look like after the change. Help everyone see—and long for—the direction you’re headed, rather than focusing myopically on the steps in front of them right now. 4- Enlist volunteers. You’ll need massive buy-in across the organization to effectively implement change. Use your coalition to keep up the momentum on the sense of urgency and continue to communicate the vision. 5 -Enable action by removing barriers. Learn where employees face challenges to implementing a change because of structural issues like silos, poor communication or inefficient processes, and break them down to facilitate progress. 6-Generate short-term wins. Keep up the momentum and motivation by recognizing early successes on the path to change. Continue to recognize and celebrate small wins to keep everyone energized and aware of your progress. 7 - Sustain acceleration. Lean into change harder after the first few small wins. Use those successes as a springboard to move forward further and faster. 8- Institute change. Celebrate the results of successful change. How do changed processes or initiatives contribute to the organization’s overall success? How do they continue to help employees contribute to the mission they care about?” Posted on Forbes on August 7, 2022, by Dana Miranda – U.S. financial journalist, Cassie Bottorff – U.S. journalist, and Rob Watts- U.K./German journalist.

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” Tony Robbins – U.S. author, business coach.

“The announcement is the easy part; it makes the manager look bold and decisive. Implementation is more difficult, because no matter how good and compelling the data, there will always be active and passive resistance, rationalizations, debates, and distractions – particularly when the changes require new ways of working or painful cuts. To get through this, managers have to get their hands dirty, engage their teams to make choices, and sometimes confront recalcitrant colleagues.” Ron Ashkenas – U.S. business consultant and Rizwan Khan – Yemen born/U.K. broadcast journalist.

“For an organization to successfully pursue and implement change, it must be prepared both logistically and culturally. Before delving into logistics, cultural preparation must first take place to achieve the best business outcome. In the preparation phase, the manager is focused on helping employees recognize and understand the need for change. They raise awareness of the various challenges or problems facing the organization that are acting as forces of change and generating dissatisfaction with the status quo. Gaining this initial buy-in from employees who will help implement the change can remove friction and resistance later on.”   Posted August 22, 2023, on Harvard Business School Online by Kelsey Miller – U.S. marketing specialist, writer.

“Don’t just flat out tell people how to improve things. Instead, ask. Those on the front lines delivering service will come up with better ideas than you can if you give them the freedom to think and express themselves without fear.”  Lee Cockerell – U.S. business executive, writer.

“Everyone within an organization is affected by change. It’s the “diverse many”—the broader group of people that makes up your company—who have to adjust their processes and activities day to day to accommodate change.” John Kotter – U.S. academic, management consultant.

“Building a clear vision and celebrating the small wins along the way will make sure that no one is left wondering what’s happening, and encourage them to take the next step forward. Before long you’ll be achieving your goals as a team—use that as an opportunity to get feedback on the process overall so that the next time flows even more smoothly.” Posted on Forbes on August 7, 2022, by Dana Miranda – U.S. financial journalist, Cassie Bottorff – U.S. journalist, and Rob Watts- U.K./German journalist.

“There are 3 groups of employees in any change journey: ‘Advocates’, ‘Observers’ and ‘Rebels’. Each reacts differently to organizational change and will have different levels of resistance. … Achieve employee change adoption through: Awareness, Understanding, Involvement, Learning and Motivation.”  Peter F. Gallagher – U.S. business consultant, writer, author of Change Management Handbook: The Leadership of Change.

“Once the organization is ready to embrace change, managers must develop a thorough, realistic, and strategic plan for bringing it about. The plan should detail: Strategic goals: What goals does this change help the organization work toward? Key performance indicators: How will success be measured? What metrics need to be moved? What’s the baseline for how things currently stand? Project stakeholders and team: Who will oversee the task of implementing change? Who needs to sign off at each critical stage? Who will be responsible for implementation? Project scope: What discrete steps and actions will the project include? What falls outside of the project scope? While it’s important to have a structured approach, the plan should also account for any unknowns or roadblocks that could arise during the implementation process and would require agility and flexibility to overcome.” Posted August 22, 2023, on Harvard Business School Online by Kelsey Miller – U.S. marketing specialist, writer.

“If you are entrusted with bringing about change, you likely possess the knowledge needed to advance the organization, and you might have a plan — but knowledge is not enough. You have to bring yourself to each interaction in a deeply authentic way. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Doug Conant – U.S. business executive, consultant.

“Change cannot be put on people. The best way to instill change is to do it with them. Create it with them.” Lisa Bodell – U.S. journalist.

“The people must have ownership in the vision. They need to be enabled to accomplish it. If there is one investment you should make, it is in people.”  Modesta Lilian Mbughuni – Tanzanian business entrepreneur, consultant.

“People don’t resist change. They resist being changed!” Peter Senge – U.S. systems scientist, senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management , co-faculty at the New England Complex Systems Institute , founder of the Society for Organizational Learning North America . 

“It’s critical to discover the strategic and predictive pathway to changes; increase confidence, leverage resources, and engage people, to drive changes continually and effortlessly.”  Pearl Zhu – U.S. business entrepreneur, writer, author of  The Change Agent CIO.

“Develop action plans for improvement. Involve the team in this process. Develop a list of actions with specific dates for implementation. Ask team members to take responsibility.” Cy Charney – U.S. management consultant.

““After the plan has been created, all that remains is to follow the steps outlined within it to implement the required change. Whether that involves changes to the company’s structure, strategy, systems, processes, employee behaviors, or other aspects will depend on the specifics of the initiative. During the implementation process, change managers must be focused on empowering their employees to take the necessary steps to achieve the goals of the initiative and celebrate any short-term wins. They should also do their best to anticipate roadblocks and prevent, remove, or mitigate them once identified. Repeated communication of the organization’s vision is critical throughout the implementation process to remind team members why change is being pursued. …  Once the change initiative has been completed, change managers must prevent a reversion to the prior state or status quo. This is particularly important for organizational change related to business processes such as workflows, culture, and strategy formulation. Without an adequate plan, employees may backslide into the “old way” of doing things, particularly during the transitory period. By embedding changes within the company’s culture and practices, it becomes more difficult for backsliding to occur. New organizational structures, controls, and reward systems should all be considered as tools to help change stick.”  Posted August 22, 2023, on Harvard Business School Online by Kelsey Miller – U.S. marketing specialist, writer.

"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful, it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful, it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident, it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."  King Whitney Jr. – U.S. leadership consultant.

“Adaptable companies turn disruptions into opportunities.”  Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, MBA - U.S. banker, Managing Partner of Mayflower-Plymouth Capital , writer, author of  Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance.

“Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.” Joel A. Barker – U.S. advertising executive.

“Don't work the system. Outsmart it.”  Bonnie Garmus - U.S. writer, author of Lessons in Chemistry.

“Know what’s weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change, but pretty soon…everything’s different.”  Calvin from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson – U.S. cartoonist.