Take the pain out of managing change

The fact that change is hard is no surprise to anyone. Whether it is keeping that commitment to actually use your gym membership this year, or refinancing your mortgage, making a change brings considerable challenges.

That is especially true when you are introducing change in an organization. The inertia of hundreds, if not thousands of people who similarly struggle with upsetting the status quo can be almost impossible to overcome.

What do elephants have to do with change?

One person who knows a little about change is Chip Heath, the New York Times bestselling author of Switch and Made to Stick, who regularly speaks on what it takes to bring effective change.

In his seminars, Heath talks about the work of Jonathan Haidt, a professor and social psychologist who coined the metaphor of an elephant and its rider to demonstrate the balance between the intellectual pursuit of change – the rider – and our emotional resistance – the elephant.

Within an organization, recognizing that those forces are at work is vital if you want to be able to effect change and have it stick. It starts with motivating the elephant.

Heath says: “Everything that’s ever changed for the better in your organization has happened because somebody had an elephant reaction and said, ‘that’s wrong'.”

People within your organization need to be motivated to change. They need the emotional connection that assures them that any disruption or difficulty will be worth it.

This motivation starts with the reason for change. While spreadsheets and logistical reports may spell out the value of new processes or improved task structures, they are hardly inspiring for the teams carrying out the work.

A much more human-centric approach will provide greater motivation to the emotional ‘elephant’ that is your workforce. Consider the customer experience and the effect new processes will have within the business. Will this reduce manual tasks and eliminate dull repetition? Can these improvements accelerate customer outcomes, reducing complaints and making everyone’s lives a little less frustrating? These are the stories to tell and the motivators that encourage change adoption.

How to leverage enthusiasm for change?

To tell stories that inspire change, you need passionate champions. A healthy governance structure ensures that the call for change does not just ring from the C-suite offices. Teams are reminded of the aspirational nature of change by people close to the ground, who know the processes and can communicate the need for ongoing improvement with enthusiasm and conviction. 

Passion for change is contagious and vital to maintaining momentum, but it is not enough. Even the most motivated elephant needs direction, and this is where the ‘rider’ comes in. Heath explains the importance of the analytical mind in shaping decision-making and providing direction for the power of emotional conviction. In an organization, this translates to the tools you use to harness enthusiasm and propagate change.

Leadership needs to recognize that the will to change is not enough. It needs structure and support in order to sustain real ongoing improvement. In some instances, a series of workshops and Post-it note boards can help, but more often than not, it will require a dedicated solution. That means a process platform that supports ongoing change through continuous improvement, allowing teams to offer improvements and see them implemented.

Decision-making is key to change

Process tools can be powerful for supporting change and providing the practical framework or carrying decisions once change is underway. The right platform will make your processes visible and available, and provide real-time reference to the most current iteration of any process. Engaging teams with an effective process platform will ensure they both maintain interest and have clear direction on how to enact change.

The Clash famously asked, “Should I stay or should I go?” and Chip Heath points to this as one of the other key functions of the ‘rider’ in change management. Decision-making is vital to implementing change and it needs to be driven from the top.

Oftentimes, change can be derailed by the need for decision-making. Teams do not know how to proceed and look up the chain of command for clear direction. This is where executive endorsement and engagement is essential. With a defined strategy and well-communicated purpose, business units can make decisions with confidence.

That is not to say every process update needs to be signed off by the C-suite, quite the opposite. By communicating the intent and direction of the change, teams are empowered to make their own calls on improving business processes.

What is more, those decisions could even be wrong. Software development often works on the principle of ‘failing fast’. They look for quick iterations that can be tested, reviewed and either implemented or reverted within a short cycle.

Processes can undergo the same treatment, within reason. Some processes have checks and balances in place for safety or security and careless changes cannot be considered. But the concept of freedom to try new things can still be encouraged. By building an environment where failure is not punished, continuous improvement can flourish. Regular iterations and creative thinking will develop when it is fostered through safe development cycles.

That has to be driven from the top. Executives need to set the baseline - the starting point that defines where the business is now – and frame the goal. What is the focus of the change initiative? What are the requirements for the solution? What do people need to pursue it? Then they need to communicate the willingness to try new things in pursuit of it.

That then circles us back to the elephant. People get motivated when they believe in what they are doing, so part of that executive engagement is in telling the stories of success. By sharing what is already working, teams have an opportunity to multiply those successes and leverage the learning for their own processes.

Change is still scary for a lot of people. When you consider that your business is made up of those people, you can understand why implementing change is difficult. Heath’s ideas about getting the emotional ‘elephant’ and intellectual ‘rider’ to work together can be instructive when we consider how to drive better process change within our organizations.

By communicating human-centric stories, providing adequate platforms for enacting change and giving permission and direction for innovation, it can happen, and fear can give way to celebration as your business evolves effectively.