Diving Deeper into Leading Change
How to make your organizational and personal change project actually have an impact.
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As we head into the New Year, it is traditional for much of the world to take stock of the previous year’s progress and set goals for the coming cycle. While much of the world celebrates a new year, the calendar date is arbitrary, it is mid-winter that brings us to think of planning and development. This is when we are hunkered down and focused inward. During the shorter days we begin to think about planning and the changes we want to make. Alas, the aspirational ideas we have during the cold and dark often fall to the wayside as the new year brings new distractions. Ideas, dreams and projects that are laudable, attractive, and even critical seem to get elbowed out of the limelight when the realities of a new year set in. Whether the goal is long delayed personal weight loss or a global enterprise realignment, it is too easily pushed aside when we come face to face with the competing and important demands of life and business.
Even the largest of projects, with the strictest of deadlines are subject to this “doom cycle”. Years ago, I was part of a small team of consultants, hired to lead planning and design of one of largest Y2K prep projects in the world for a global financial services organization. Even in that environment, where the deadline was absolute and unmovable and the consequences of failure massive, the program office was constantly hamstrung by dated, task forward planning methods. A Gantt chart and spreadsheets are a fine way to manage progress- but terrible planning tools.
As you consider changes for the coming year, I invite you to think differently about how you plan to make them a reality. Rather than starting the task with a forward view of the plan, envision the change from a robust vision of what will be different when the change is complete, and work backward from a very clear, very compelling outcome.
Get so clear about the future state and the benefits of the change you intend that it can become a far-star navigational guide to everyone involved.
From the project team, to major stakeholders who will be impacted by the change, to those who must slog through the coding for physical changes that make the change reality, everyone should be completely clear on the vision.
All changes we desire to make, whether a personal New Year’s Resolution to lose weight or a commitment to redirect strategy at a global giant must complete a cycle of 4 phases—fully and effectively—to be successful. The activities may differ widely based on the change you want to make real, but each phase is critical. Step over any of them at the peril of another failed change project.
So as we head for the new year and plans for change are afoot (personal and enterprise-wide), I offer a framework for leading change in ways that help do more than drive a project—instead, plan for a new reality. And lest you think that the framework is too conceptual and not solid enough for major changes in business and strategy—or massive change projects—this methodology has been applied successfully in over 100 companies to navigate strategic and process change, including Charles Schwab, Franklin Templeton, Alltel Information Services, Wells Fargo Bank, Kransco, US Steel, Merk, Riceland, and Almatis.
Four Domains: A Model for Leading Change
The Four Domain model below provides a framework for understanding the different sources of energy we draw from and, consequently, must manage efficiently. One of the most powerful uses for the model is as a map for personal and organizational change. We have only to consider how changes happen to see the basics of how the model applies.
If you are not familiar with this model, please review the Four Domains Basic Framework from Entelechy Partners.
An Overview of Change
Consider how change happens in organizations. Initially, someone has an idea for a better way to do something. Perhaps their vision is for a new software system to improve process efficiency or an idea for a new brand image or organizational deployment. No matter what the change, the common beginning is that a challenge, problem, or issue is seen in a new light.
The need for the change predates the idea, but the process of change is initiated when someone begins to envision a new future as a reality.
We start in the realm of Spirit, which is where ideas and new beginnings reside. If the term Spirit is uncomfortable for you, think of it as Inspiration or Vision. We may think of the idea as rational, but it is in the ability to be inspired that the process of a change begins.
Moving in a clockwise direction, ideas need to take physical form to have impact. In the body realm, plans take shape; people join into teams to engage in the work of change. Here the building of a new solution happens. The Body domain refers to giving the idea physical form and substance.
As roll-out begins, the forces of organizational resistance, as well as those of enthusiastic adoption, make themselves felt. The closer the change comes to being real and having impact, the more emotional the response it evokes in the organization. Resistance, fear, worry, and concern begin to gather strength, even as excitement and enthusiasm come into their own.
However, in most organizations it is sheer inertia that raises the highest emotional hurdle.
Even without open resistance, the straightforward reality is that a new way of working must, by definition, push aside whatever is in place as the current process. That existing process resists by its simple presence.
Changes that survive the emotional gauntlet and get into actual production are then measured for the improvements created. They are further smoothed, usually in a linear, rational (Mental) process and can begin adding value. In most cases, it is not long until the cycle begins again. Ideas for improving the new change quickly become observable, as the process is no longer theoretical and can now be observed.
Given this view of change, we might adjust the labels for the domains to be something like the figure below:
Understanding the Model as a Guide for Leading Change
There are many excellent process guides for managing change. The purpose of this model is to provide a framework for applying almost any change methodology (from the task-oriented structures of the PMI1 to John Kotter’s 10 Steps2). But this tool-set is aimed more at leaders of change (Executive Sponsors, Program Leaders, and Line Executives) than at Project Managers. Making the model useful requires an understanding of how to apply the domain framework. The best place to start that exploration is with an understanding of the best practices for the activities that take place in each of the sectors.
Inspiration:
In this phase, ideas are incubated and fully conceived. We tend to think of ideas as appearing in a flash of inspiration and showing up fully formed. Effective idea generation requires time and attention to an understanding of the outcome to be created by an idea. Many organizational cultures encourage us to get into action quickly. As such, many change initiatives die an early death by being launched before they are completely thought out. A fully formed vision is informed by the details of what will be different after a new change has been accomplished. Many project teams and sponsors shortchange this domain by moving too quickly into the physical domain of Embodiment.
Embodiment:
This domain is where projects begin to take physical form. Project teams meet; work begins on the new processes, software, tools, or relationships needed to give the new idea form and substance.
It is here that the building work for anything new, which is needed to bring the change into being, happens.
In most program and project management methodologies, this phase gets the most resource and attention. It is where the largest budgets are normally dedicated and often takes the longest time to complete. It is also the most practical of the domain activities. In fact, many project managers treat their projects as if this domain is the only one that matters and will wedge in minimal amounts of other domains as an accommodation.
Resistance:
Although resistance begins almost as soon as the idea is expressed, the most powerful emotional responses to change appear at this stage and, therefore, require more attention. Resistance is not just something to be overcome. Personal and organizational resistance will smooth out project plans that are rough around the edges or overly aggressive. More importantly, it will kill those projects that are not powerfully compelling enough to overcome the resistance. Resistance is like natural selection, ensuring that only projects with sufficient support and value, properly fielded, will go into production.
Utility:
It is in this phase that changes go into production and begin to provide utilitarian value. Implementation offers the opportunity to fine-tune the new process and measure its impact. It is here that the organization begins to see value from the change.
With this understanding as a foundation, we can now begin to look at how to use this model to actually lead change—keeping in mind the following two important concepts.
One: The Borders Between the Domains are Malleable
We do not wake up one day, call a team meeting and announce that the idea phase was complete yesterday at 5:00 PM and today we begin the work of creating a larger project team. It is useful to think of the model in the way that seasons pass. Spring weather slowly gives way to summer; the change does not rigidly follow the official days on the calendar. So it is as we move around the change cycle—that gradual change provides the first practical view into the activities we can and should anticipate as change leaders. The figure below shows the nature of activities in those periods of transition.
As a change leader, this snapshot of needs provides a guide for the kinds of resources that a team will require in order to be successful. For example, facilitation and thinking time and design as the vision is fully articulated, moving to more formal planning and budgeting resources as the idea begins to take form. Roll-out services and resources usually require heavier event scheduling, travel and more communications than other activities, especially for those changes that evoke powerful resistance from fans of the status quo. And, as a system actually goes into production, then training, adoption supports—and sufficient time for users to adapt—are important to success.
Two: The Entire Cycle is Contained in Each Domain
Think about times in the past when you (or someone else) put forth an idea that immediately got shot down. The dialogue went something like this:
“Hey, how about if we staggered shifts and rotations to give the line a break during peak periods?”
“No, it would never get through compliance and the line organization would hate it. Besides, the change of staffing would likely eat up the benefits.”
“Yeah ok. Never mind.”
What just happened? The idea process went around a near-complete cycle, with the project getting killed in the emotional domain stage (after a mortal wounding in the body domain). In order for each of the domains to be properly completed, we must take the change through all four of them. This is critical: Pushing to the next domain without fully dealing with the issues in the current one is what kills projects and wastes money. Lots of money.
Practical Application
There are deep libraries of information about how to lead change. This framework is not meant to supplant any of the resources available to the leader. Instead, this framework is meant as a planning guide and diagnostic. By becoming familiar with the domains, leaders can better understand what their team needs and be ahead of them in looking for the required resource.
In addition, by learning to ensure that each domain requirement is fully satisfied before pressing forward, a leader can help the change team remain ahead of risks that would compromise the team’s outcomes.
Every idea, and therefore every change program, is different. As a result, the requirements in each domain are different as well.
Regardless of where the most detail or expense resides, or how much effort and attention is required in each domain, one constant reality governs all change programs:
A leader who fails to invest the needed energy and resource in any domain before moving the project forward invites disaster.
Be rigorous in understanding the needs of your change program at each stage and disciplined about fulfilling those needs and you will see a much higher return on investments in both personal and organizational change.
Kotter, John P. (1996). Leading Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.