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Change Management 643: WK 2 Week 2: Assessing readiness to change 1 Week 2: Assessing readiness to change Course Activities 1

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Change Management 643: WK 2 Week 2: Assessing readiness to change 1 Week 2: Assessing readiness to change Course Activities 1. Read Cameron & Green: Chap. 1, 3; 2. Sopow pp. 5,6,27,28,29,30 3. PowerPoints 4. Discussion Questions 5. Weekly Summary 6. Create Teams • Review of more change models and theories of change • Trust and change • How current change management theories address resistance to change • How trust plays a role in change • Measuring success of change 2 Change is constant in our lives Has been forever Will be forever So why do some people resist it? Why do some people FEAR it? 3 Why is change resisted? • No perceived problem or threat • No urgency • Lack of trust • Poor and/or unsupportive leadership • Disinformation / poor communications • Denial • Defensiveness • Fear (powerless, unknown) ©Dr. Eli Sopow 4 Homework Why extremism experts fear the Capitol attack is just the beginning https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/16/us/capitol-riots-extremism-threat-soh/index.html A must watch listen podcast by Gupta what the enduring stress is doing to our brains Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction - Podcast on CNN Audio This is your brain 5 The same neurochemicals that are linked to fear and to the threat of danger or death by wild lions and snakes are the same chemicals in play when we fear change, a negative work climate, and a bullying boss. 6 The Dynamics of Fear Carly Fiorina www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3IbKbDhfKw&feature=related 7 Trust https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletesway/201508/the-neuroscience-trust 8 + • • • • • • • Set the Why Trust Meet expectations Ask for help Think together Authenticity Humbleness • $ • Whatever it takes • Possibly often exceeds THE way • Ego and Fear of loss at odds • Inconsistent actions 9 Peter Senge, The Dance of Change • “…the challenge of fear and anxiety may well be the most frequently faced challenge in sustaining profound change, and the most difficult to overcome.” • Doing + Martin Seligman The five main elements of a life of flourishing and wellbeing are: 1.Positive emotion, 2.Engagement, 3.Relationships, 4.Meaning, 5.Accomplishment. Participation truths Imposing change from above can lead to employee resistance. and A participative process can help build support for change efforts. 1-12 What can we AS LEADERS OF CHANGE DO Turning change conflict into collaboration “In an organization that has a culture of trust, transparent communication, employees who are involved and engaged, and positive interpersonal relationships resistance to change is easy to see— and also much less likely to occur. In such a work environment, employees feel free to tell their boss what they think and to have open exchanges with managers about how they think the changes are going. They are also more likely to share their feelings and ideas for improvement.” https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-resistance-to-change-1918240 14 “…In a trusting environment, employees think about how to make the change process go more smoothly. They are likely to ask their managers what they can do to help. When a change is introduced in this environment, with a lot of discussions and employee involvement, resistance to change is minimized. Resistance is also minimized if there is a widespread belief that the changes are needed.” https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-resistance-to-change-1918240 15 Some definitions of trust Perceived availability Competence Consistency Fairness Integrity Loyalty Openness Promises fulfillment Receptivity Why would you TRUST a medical doctor (in Canada)? Why would you TRUST your boss? Why TRUST a company? Why TRUST your friend? Why TRUST yourself? Status recognition Benevolence Neutrality Common bond Sources: Gabarro, J. (1987), Tyler T., Degoey (1995), Tyler T. & Lind & Allan L. (1992) as found in Sopow E. (2007). Corporate Personality Disorder: Surviving & Saving Sick Organizations. universe Publishers. 16 The latest global research on workplace trust 17 Trust and distrust are distinct separate Neurological evidence Distrust and the brain Trust and the brain • • • Confident expectations –caudate nucleus is associated with anticipating positive rewards dopamine receptors dopamine comes from the mid brain. Knowing others Anterior paracingulate cortex as the key social brain for predicting the behavior of others. Only activated when a person engages in a social interaction (p. 389) Orbitofrontal cortex – assesses uncertainty • • • • Emotionally laden amygdala activation is abrupt – flight - escape Is associated with malevolence – concern for harm Amygdala is linked with interaction of emotions and problem solving. Negative emotions leads to poor decisions – amygdala translates intense emotions to cognitive outcomes ---- impacts how we think Insula cortex – visceral information and autonomic arousal primary focus fear and anticipated loss Which energy do you create DISTRUST • Reveal less • Expect more • Assume the worst • Look with Caution • Interpret with fear • Tell secrets • Yes people/students TRUST • Reveal more • Expect less and over deliver • Assume the best • Look with open heart • Interpret facts • Tell the truth • Yes to confronting the truth We can’t become great with out trust or can we by selling distrust Trust • Willingness to be vulnerable to another person on the basis that they will act according.(p. 375) Distrust • Expectations of can’t do it –can’t meet your standards • Won’t do it, lack of will, contradicting motives • Malintent (p. 376) Move from fear to co-create • Encourage open conversations • Creating clear performance review systems • Provide support • Create learning opportunities • Encourage building of trust The neurotransmitters What are you doing in your brain? • When feeling safe oxytocin is released. The love hormone helps reinforce bonds • Simultaneously dopamine and serotonin are being release supporting the feeling of wellbeing. • This comes from an activated prefrontal cortex. This is also the part of the brain engaged in strategy and planning. • You are feeling good and your neurotransmitters are dampening the amygdala the cortisol war hormone Get dopamine from Diagnosing the readiness and probability of successful change 27 Positive Influence -Urgency is high -Consequences for not changing big & widely understood Willing to provide visible support for change until complete. -Get aligned with other key executives about change. -Leaders have history of making tough decisions and being public about them. -Teams are adequately funded and staffed during change. -Strong project managers assigned to all teams. Influences Urgency -Little perceived risk of not changing. -Long history of success, monopoly in market. Leadership -Either doesn’t provide visible support, may get distracted or not demonstrate personal commitment. -Competition vs. collaboration among key leaders is likely. Decision Making Change Infrastructure -People know what is happening. -A lot of feedback up the hierarchy, which is responded to. Communication -History of focused, relentless implementation. Implementation -Design rights are held where needed, generally low in the org. -People are constantly developed. Negative Influence -Leaders either don’t make tough decisions or no one knows. -Limited use of teams or inadequate resources available. -Limited or weak project management. -People often do not know what is happening. -Limited feedback or limited response. -Implementation is inconsistent or poor. Empowerment -Decisions often pushed up the hierarchy. Training -People are not really seen as a competitive advantage. Source: 2006 Jackson & Schmidt, LLC, Jackson and schmidt.com/services 28 LEAD* Change-Success Index ©Eli Sopow PhD 29 Source: Kegan, R. & Lahey, L. (2009). Immunity to change “Immunity to change workplace X-Ray” Commitment Doing/not doing instead Hidden competing commitments “We are committed to the value or importance of…” “What we’re doing/not doing that prevents this commitment from being fully realized?” (What is the fear if we do other than this?, and thus…) Big assumption “We assume that…” “We are also committed to…” Source: Kegan, R. & Lahey, L. (2009). Immunity to change. Harvard Business Press 30 “Immunity to change workplace X-Ray” Commitment “I am committed to having my assignment in Course 1 done on time and getting a very good mark. ” Doing/not doing instead “I have other assignments in other classes to do as well in this time (Course 2, Assignment 2).” “I want to meet with some friends on the weekend.” Hidden competing commitments Big assumption “The professor in Course 2 is very strict and demands very high standards.” “I assume that I can do less work on Assignment 1 and get a high mark because the professor is an easy marker and is easy to get along with.” “I am afraid that I will fail Course 2 unless I place most of my energy into that other assignment.” “I have a parttime job to work at for 20 hours a week.” Source: Kegan, R. & Lahey, L. (2009). Immunity to change. Harvard Business Press 31 Praise for the previous editions of Making Sense of Change Management ‘I commend it highly. It has a good coverage of relevant theoretical work while at the same time giving plenty of practical examples. It is written in an accessible style that engages the reader and it is full of useful ideas without being overly prescriptive or formulaic.’ Philip Sadler, author of a number of acclaimed business titles and former chief executive of Ashridge Business School ‘I really enjoyed this book. I like the straightforward approach, the inclusion of the author’s opinion and the insight provided by the case studies. This book will be very useful for those business managers in my organization who need to prepare themselves for tackling major organizational change.’ Andy Houghton, Managing Director of YSC and former Head of Organization Development, Retail Direct, Royal Bank of Scotland Group ‘There has long been a need for a readable, practical but theoretically under-pinned book on Change which recognized a multiplicity of perspectives. By combining the behavioural, humanistic, organizational and cognitive perspectives and by helping the reader make sense of what each perspective brings to understanding Change, this book should help students and practitioners. By linking in work on personality tests such as MBTI™ the book breaks new ground from a practitioner point of view not least because these tests are widely used in practice. I thoroughly recommend it.’ Professor Colin Carnall, Chief Executive, Executive Education, Cass Business School ‘If you’re interested in successfully managing and leading change, then read this book! It not only covers change from both the individual and organizational perspective, but also increases the number of options available to you.’ Judi Billing, former Director of IDeA Leadership Academy, Improvement and Development Agency ‘Change is a huge thing wherever you work. The key is to make change happen, and make it happen well – with everyone on side, and everyone happy. This book i provides an extremely stimulating and accessible guide to doing just that. There are a few people at the Beeb who could do with this. I’ll definitely be placing copies on a couple of desks at White City.’ Nicky Campbell, Presenter Radio Five Live and BBC1’s The Big Questions ‘This book is a great resource for managers thrown into the midst of change, who need to gain understanding of what happens when you try to make significant changes in a business, and how best to manage people through it. The authors have tackled a complex topic in a lively and engaging way, leading readers through the maze of theory available and offering just the right amount of practical advice.’ Andy Newall, Group HR Director United Biscuits and former Organizational Effectiveness Director, Allied Domecq plc ‘This impressive book on change is an essential read for any professional manager who is serious about getting to grips with the important issues of making change happen.’ Dr Jeff Watkins, former MSc Course Director, Management Research Centre, University of Bristol ‘This practical handbook, combining contemporary management theory with very practical suggestions, is an indispensable tool for any manager involved in change processes. And aren’t we all ...’ Adriaan Vollebergh, Director, Tata Steel Europe ‘This is a book which lives up to its title. By combining a guide to the ideas of key thinkers on change and useful tips for making change happen, it really does provide a toolkit to help us to make sense of change. It is useful to see a focus on the individual, team and organizational levels, and in particular, on the role of the leader in the change process. It is written in a way that makes the book interesting to read both at length as well as to dip into.’ Dr Richard McBain, Head of Postgraduate Post Experience Programmes, Henley Business School ii MAKING SENSE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT iii THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK iv MAKING SENSE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change 3rd edition Esther Cameron and Mike Green v Publisher’s note Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or either of the authors. First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2004 by Kogan Page Limited Second edition 2009 Third edition 2012 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses: 120 Pentonville Road London N1 9JN United Kingdom www.koganpage.com 1518 Walnut Street, Suite 1100 Philadelphia PA 19102 USA 4737/23 Ansari Road Daryaganj New Delhi 110002 India © Esther Cameron and Mike Green, 2004, 2009, 2012 The right of Esther Cameron and Mike Green to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBN E-ISBN 978 0 7494 6435 6 978 0 7494 6436 3 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cameron, Esther. Making sense of change management : a complete guide to the models, tools, and techniques of organizational change / Esther Cameron, Mike Green. – 3rd ed.    p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7494-6435-6 – ISBN 978-0-7494-6436-3 1. Organizational change–Management. 2. Teams in the workplace–Management. 3. Reengineering (Management) 4. Information technology–Management. I. Green, Mike, 1959- II. Title. HD58.8.C317 2012 658.4’06–dc23 2011048827 Typeset by Graphicraft Ltd, Hong Kong Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd vi Contents Acknowledgements xi Introduction Who this book is aimed at 2; The basic content of the book 3; Why explore different approaches to change? 4; Overview of structure 6; Message to readers 9 1 PART ONE: THE UNDERPINNING THEORY 11 1 Individual change Introduction 14; Learning and the process of change 16; The behavioural approach to change 22; The cognitive approach to change 28; The psychodynamic approach to change 36; The humanistic psychology approach to change 45; Personality and change 56; Managing change in self and others 58; Summary and conclusions 66 14 vii Contents ____________________________________________________________________ 2 Team change Introduction 69; What is a group and when is it a team? 70; Why we need teams 72; The types of organizational teams 73; How to improve team effectiveness 82; What team change looks like 85; The leadership issues in team change 91; How individuals affect team dynamics 95; How well teams initiate and adapt to organizational change 101; Summary and conclusions 105 69 3 Organizational change How organizations really work 108; Models of and approaches to organizational change 119; Summary and conclusions 147 107 4 Leading change Introduction 151; Visionary leadership 156; Roles that leaders play 166; Leadership styles, qualities and skills 174; Different leadership for different phases of change 184; The importance of self-knowledge and inner resources 192; Summary and conclusions 197 151 5 The change agent Introduction 201; Models of change agency 202; The consulting process 205; Change agent tools and frameworks 215; Competencies of the change agent 226; Deeper aspects of being a change agent 233; Summary and conclusions 252 201 PART TWO: THE APPLICATIONS 255 Strategic change process 256; Overview of structure 258 6 Restructuring Reasons for restructuring 263; The restructuring process 264; Restructuring from an individual change perspective: the special case of redundancy 285; Enabling teams to address organizational change 290; Conclusion 296 viii 261 ___________________________________________________________________ Contents 7 Mergers and acquisitions The purpose of merger and acquisition activity 298; Lessons from research into successful and unsuccessful mergers and acquisitions 304; Applying the change theory: guidelines for leaders 319; Summary 332 297 8 Cultural change Guidelines for achieving successful cultural change 338; Case study one: aligning the organization 341; Case study two: rebranding the organization 348; Case study three: creating an employer brand 356 334 9 IT-based process change Strategy and IT 365; The role of IT management 369; The need for IT change managers 373; Achieving process change 378; Changing the information culture 385; New rules for a new age 388; Summary and conclusions 389 362 PART THREE: EMERGING INQUIRIES 391 10 Complex change Introduction 393; When is change complex? 394; Understanding how complexity science applies to organizational change 395; Tools that support complex change 405; The role of leaders in complex change 411; Summary and conclusions 414 393 11 Leading change in uncertain times Introduction 416; The impact of uncertainty on our working lives 418; New organizational forms and ways of doing business 424; New careers and the need for ‘managing oneself’ 428; Decision making in an uncertain world 430; Skills and tools to support leading change through uncertainty 442; Summary and conclusions 452 416 ix Contents ____________________________________________________________________ x Conclusion How to get in touch with the authors of this book 456 455 References Index 457 471 Acknowledgements We want to start by acknowledging the many people in organizations with whom we have worked over the years. You are all in here in some shape or form! We have worked with many generous, courageous and inspiring managers of change who we thank for the privilege of working alongside them to make real change happen. Without these experiences the book would be a dry catalogue of theory, devoid of life and character. Then of course there are our colleagues who challenge and support us every day as we reflect on our work and make decisions about what to do next. Particular thanks go from Mike to Andy Holder, Mhairi Cameron, Philip Darley and Tim Hockridge, who probably do not know how much they are appreciated, and to Mike’s MBA and Executive Education Pro­ gramme Members at Henley Business School for a never-ending supply of ideas and challenges. Esther wants to specially acknowledge Nick Mayhew for his encouragement, wisdom and sensitive feedback, particularly in relation to Chapter 11, Anne-Marie Saunders and Alex Clark for their humour, friendship and generosity in sharing their expertise; so many of their insights are embedded in this book. Also, thanks go to Esther’s learning set who really boosted the leadership chapter in particular. xi Acknowledgements ___________________________________________________________ Thanks too to Bill Critchley for his ideas on linking metaphor and change, which form the bedrock of the organizational change chapter. Really special thanks go to Ailsa Cameron for her wonderful pictures, which soften the pages so beautifully. We also want to thank from the bottom of our hearts the hard-working reviewers who squeezed the time out of their busy agendas to read draft versions of these chapters. Special thanks go to Louise Overy, Steve Summers, Duncan Cameron, Mervyn Smallwood, Peter Hyson, Richard Lacey and Richard Smith for their timely and thoughtful suggestions throughout the iterative process of writing the book. Our families have helped too by being very patient and supportive. So love and thanks from Mike to his children Lewin, Oliver and Brigit, who make it all worthwhile. Love and thanks too from Esther to Duncan, Ailsa, Ewan and Katka amongst many others who have walked dogs and cleaned-up when I’ve had my head in my PC. We also want to thank each other. We have learnt a lot from this rich and sometimes rocky process of writing a book together. We do not always see things the same way, and we do not work from an identical set of assumptions about change, so the book is the culmination of much healthy airing of views. Let’s hope we are still writing, talking and enjoying each other’s company many years from now. Note: The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator™ and MBTI™ are registered trademarks of Consulting Psychologists Press. Anyone interested in knowing more about Myers-Briggs should contact Consulting Psychologists Press in the United States (800-624-1765) and OPP in the UK (08708 728 727). xii Introduction I balance on a wishing well that all men call the world. We are so small between the stars, so large against the sky, and lost amongst the subway crowd I try and catch your eye. L Cohen This book is about making sense of change management. The world we live in continues to change at an intense rate. Not a day goes by, it seems, without another important discovery or boundary-pushing invention in the scientific fields. The economics of global­ ization seems to dominate much of our political and corporate thinking, while the shadow side of globalization – re­ fugees, exploitation, terrorism and the like – develops at an equally alarming pace. 1 Making sense of change management ____________________________________________ The rate of change and discovery outpaces our individual ability to keep up with it. The organizations we work in or rely on to meet our needs and wants are also changing dramatically, in terms of their strategies, their structures, their systems, their boundaries and of course their expectations of their staff and their managers. WHO THIS BOOK IS AIMED AT Making Sense of Change Management is aimed at anyone who wants to begin to understand why change happens, how change happens and what needs to be done to make change a more welcoming concept. In particular we hope that leaders and managers in organizations might appreciate a book that does not give them the one and only panacea, but offers insights into different frameworks and ways of approaching change at an individual, team and organizational level. We are mindful of the tremendous pressures and priorities of prac­ tising managers – in both the private and the public sector – and Making Sense of Change Management is our attempt at making their lives that little bit easier. It is also our attempt at convincing them that addressing the issues that cause change to be so poorly managed in organizations will lead not only to more satisfying experiences for them, but to more fulfilling lives for their staff. Framework: an essential supporting structure; Model: a simplified description of a system; Tool: a thing used in an occupation or pursuit; Technique: a means of achieving one’s purpose. Concise Oxford Dictionary Students of learning – be they MBA or MSc programme members, or individuals who just want to do things better – will hopefully find some models, tools and techniques that bridge the gap between the purely academic and the more pragmatic aspects of management theory and 2 ________________________________________________________________ Introduction practice. The intention is to help them to make sense of the changes that they will undergo, initiate and implement. THE BASIC CONTENT OF THE BOOK We focus our attention on individual, team and organizational change with good reason. Many readers will be grappling with large-scale change at some point, which might be departmental, divisional or whole organ­ izational change. Whatever the level or degree of organizational change, the people on the receiving end are individual human beings. It is they who will ultimately cause the change to be a success or a failure. Without looking at the implications of change on individuals we can never really hope to manage large-scale change effectively. In addition, one of the themes of organizational life over recent years has been the ascendancy of the team. Much of today’s work is organized through teams and requires team collaboration and teamworking for it to succeed. Very little has been written about the role of teams in organizational change, and we have attempted to offer some fresh ideas mixed with some familiar ones. A thread running through the book is the crucial role of leadership. If management is all about delivering on current needs, then leadership is all about inventing the future. There is a specific chapter on leadership, but you will find the importance of effective leadership arising throughout. In some respects the chapters on individual, team and organizational change, together with the chapter on leadership of change, are freestanding and self-contained. However, we have also included application chapters where we have chosen a number of types of change, some of which, no doubt, will be familiar to you. These chapters aim to provide guidelines, case studies and learning points for those facing specific organizational challenges. Here the individual, team and organizational aspects of the changes are integrated into a coherent whole. In addition to the application chapter on managing complex change that we added for the second edition, we have added two new chapters for the third edition – one on the role and nature of the change agent and another on leading change in uncertain times. 3 Making sense of change management ____________________________________________ WHY EXPLORE DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO CHANGE? Managers in today’s organizations face some bewildering challenges. Paul Evans (2000) says that 21st century leadership of change issues is not simple; he sees modern leadership as a balancing act. He draws our attention to the need for leaders to accept the challenge of navigating between opposites. Leaders have to balance a track record of success with the ability to admit mistakes and meet failure well. They also have to balance short-term and long-term goals, be both visionary and pragmatic, pay attention to global and local issues and encourage individual account­ ability at the same time as enabling team work. It is useful to note that while some pundits encourage leaders to lead rather than manage, Paul Evans is emphasizing the need for leaders to pay attention to both management and leadership. See the box for a list of paradoxes that managers at Lego are asked to manage. THE 11 PARADOXES OF LEADERSHIP THAT HANG ON THE WALL OF EVERY LEGO MANAGER • To be able to build a close relationship with one’s staff, and to keep a suitable distance. • To be able to lead, and to hold oneself in the background. • To trust one’s staff, and to keep an eye on what is happening. • To be tolerant, and to know how you want things to function. • To keep the goals of one’s department in mind, and at the same time to be loyal to the whole firm. • To do a good job of planning your own time, and to be flexible with your schedule. • To freely express your view, and to be diplomatic. • To be a visionary, and to keep one’s feet on the ground. • To try to win consensus, and to be able to cut through. • To be dynamic, and to be reflective. • To be sure of yourself, and to be humble. Source: Evans (2000) 4 ________________________________________________________________ Introduction We believe that anyone interested in the successful management of change needs to develop the ability to handle such paradoxes. Throughout this book we offer a range of ideas and views, some of which are contradictory. We would urge you to try to create a space within yourself for considering a variety of perspectives. Allow your own ideas and insights to emerge, rather than looking for ideas that you agree with, and discarding those you do not care for. It is highly probable that there is some merit in everything you read in this book! With so many choices and so many dynamic tensions in leadership, how does a manager learn to navigate his or her way through the maze? We have developed a straightforward model of leadership that acts as a strong reminder to managers that they need to balance three key dimensions; see Figure 0.1. Figure 0.1 Three dimensions of leadership Source: developed by Mike Green, Andy Holder and Mhairi Cameron 5 Making sense of change management ____________________________________________ Managers usually learn to focus on outcomes and tangible results very early on in their careers. This book is a reminder that although outcomes are extremely important, the leader must also pay attention to underlying emotions, and to the world of power and influence, in order to sustain change and achieve continued success in the long term. Leaders of change need to balance their efforts across all three dimensions of an organizational change: • outcomes: developing and delivering clear outcomes; • interests: mobilizing influence, authority and power; • emotions: enabling people and culture to adapt. Leaders are at the centre of all three. They shape, direct and juggle them. One dimension may seem central at any time: for example, developing a strategy. However, leadership is about ensuring that the other dimensions are also kept in view. The three balls must always be juggled successfully. In our experience, if you as leader or manager of change are unaware of what is happening (or not happening) in each of the three dimensions, you will have ‘taken your eye off the ball’. Your chances of progressing in an effective way are diminished. The early chapters of this book give the reader some underpinning theory and examples to illustrate how people initiate change and react to change at an individual level, when in teams, or when viewed as part of a whole organization. This theory will help managers to understand what is going on, how to deal with it and how to lead it with the help of others. The later chapters take real change situations and give specific tips and guidelines on how to tackle these successfully from a leadership point of view. OVERVIEW OF STRUCTURE We have structured the book principally in three parts. Part One, ‘The underpinning theory’, comprises five chapters and aims to set out a wide range of ideas and approaches to managing change. 6 ________________________________________________________________ Introduction Chapter 11 Chapter 10 Introduction Part Three x x xxx x x xx x x x x xx xx xx xx xx x x x Leading change x x x x xxx xx x Uncertainty x Complex change IT process x xxx x Chapter 9 Culture xx x Chapter 8 M&A x x Chapter 7 Restructuring x Organizational x Chapter 6 Chapter 5 Change agent Introduction to Part Two Chapter 4 Leading change xxx Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Team Individual Team Organizational Chapter 1 Type of change Individual Introduction Table 0.1 Where to read about individual, team, organizational change and leading change xx xx xx Chapter 1 draws together the key theories of how individuals go through change. Chapter 2 compares different types of team, and examines the process of team development and also the way in which different types of team contribute to the organizational change process. Chapter 3 looks at a wide range of approaches to organizational change, using organizational metaphor to show how these are interconnected and related. Chapter 4 examines leadership of change, the role of visionary leadership, the roles that leaders play in the change process and the competencies that a leader needs to become a successful leader of change. Chapter 5 looks at the critical role and nature of the agent of change, both from a competency perspective and also from the use of the self as an instrument for change. 7 Making sense of change management ____________________________________________ These chapters enable the reader to develop a broader understanding of the theoretical aspects of individual, team and organizational change, and to learn more about a variety of perspectives on how best to be a leader of change. This lays firm foundations for anyone wanting to learn about new approaches to managing change with a view to becoming more skilled in this area. Part Two, ‘The applications’, focuses on specific change scenarios with a view to giving guidelines, hints and tips to those involved in these different types of change process. These chapters are illustrated with case studies and make reference to the models and methods discussed in Part One. Chapter 6 looks at organizational restructuring, why it goes wrong, and how to get it right. Chapter 7 tackles mergers and acquisitions by categorizing the different types of activity and examining the learning points resulting from research into this area. Chapter 8 examines cultural change by describing some diverse case studies and extracting the learning points, and Chapter 9 attempts to shed some light on IT-based process change, why it so often goes awry and what organizations can do to improve on this. One of the clear things that has emerged for us in helping others lead and manage change is the tension between overly planning and controlling change on the one hand, and the fact that change is often not simple enough to plan or control on the other. In Part Three, Chapter 10 looks at the whole area of complexity science and how it can inform your approach when managing complex change. Chapter 11 looks at leading change in times of uncertainty. Please do not read this book from beginning to end in one sitting. It is too much to take in. We recommend that if you prefer a purely pragmatic approach you should start by reading Part Two. You will find concrete examples and helpful guidelines. After that, you might like to go back into the theory in Part One to understand the choices available to you as a leader of change. Likewise, if you are more interested in understanding the theoretical underpinning of change, then read Part One first. You will find a range of approaches together with their associated theories of change. After that, you might like to read Part Two to find out how the theory can be applied in real situations. 8 ________________________________________________________________ Introduction MESSAGE TO READERS We wish you well in all your endeavours to initiate, adapt to and survive change. We hope the book provides you with some useful ideas and insights, and we look forward to hearing about your models, approaches and experiences, and to your thoughts on the glaring gaps in this book. We are sure we have left lots of important things out! Do e-mail us with your comments and ideas, or visit us at: Esther: Website: http://www.integralchange.co.uk E-mail: esther@integralchange.co.uk Mike: Website: www.transitionalspace.co.uk E-mail: mike@transitionalspace.co.uk 9 THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 10 Part One The underpinning theory All appears to change when we change. Henri Amiel Individual change is at the heart of everything that is achieved in organ­ izations. Once individuals have the motivation to do something different, the whole world can begin to change. The conspiracy laws in the UK recognize this capacity for big change to start small. In some legal cases, the merest nod or a wink between two people seems to be considered adequate evidence to indicate a conspiratorial act. In some respects this type of law indicates the incredible power that individuals have within them to challenge existing power strongholds and alter the way things are done. However, individuals are to some extent governed by the norms of the groups they belong to, and groups are bound together in a whole system of groups of people that interconnect in various habitual ways. So the 11 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ story is not always that simple. Individuals, teams and organizations all play a part in the process of change, and leaders have a particularly onerous responsibility: that is, making all this happen. We divided this book into three parts so that readers could have the option either to start their journey through this book by first reading about the theory of change, or to begin by reading about the practical applications. We understand that people have different preferences. However, we do think that a thorough grounding in the theory is useful to help each person to untangle and articulate his or her own assumptions about how organizations work and how change occurs. Do you, for instance, think that organizations can be changed by those in leadership positions to reach a predetermined end state, or do you think that people in organizations need to be collectively aware of the need for change before they can begin to adapt? Assumptions can be dangerous things when not explored, as they can restrict your thinking and narrow down your options. Part One comprises five chapters. These have been chosen to represent five useful perspectives on change: individual change, team change, organizational change, leading change and the role of the change agent. Chapter 1 draws together the four key approaches to understanding individual change. These are the behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and humanistic psychology approaches. This chapter also looks at the connection between personality and change, and how to enable change in others when you are acting in a managerial role. Chapter 2 identifies the main elements of team and group theory that we believe are useful to understand when managing change. This chapter compares different types of team, looks at the area of team effectiveness, and examines the process of team development. The composition of the team and the effect this has on team performance are also examined, as well as the way in which different types of team contribute to the organizational change process. Chapter 3 looks at a wide range of approaches to organizational change, using organizational metaphor to show how these are interconnected and related. Familiar and unfamiliar models of the change process are described and categorized by metaphor to enable the underpinning 12 ______________________________________________________ The underpinning theory assumptions to be examined, and we give our views on how useful these various models are to leaders of change. Chapter 4 examines the leadership of change. We start by looking at the variety of leadership roles that arise from using different assumptions about how organizations work. The need for visionary leadership, the characteristics of successful leaders and some thoughts on the need for a different sort of leadership in the 21st century are all aired. The chapter also examines how communities of leaders can work together to make change happen, and what styles and skills are required of a leader, including the need for emotional competencies. The phases of a change process are looked at in order to illuminate the need for different leadership actions and attention during the different phases of change, and the importance of self-knowledge and self-awareness is highlighted. Chapter 5 looks at the role of the change agent, highlighting areas of competence needed and exploring the unique role that the agent of change plays in the change process, particularly what is going on inside for them; how they can use that to great effect; and how they might need help in the change process itself. 13 1 Individual change INTRODUCTION This chapter draws together the key theories of how individuals go through change, using various models to explore this phenomenon. The aims of this chapter are to give managers and others experiencing or implementing change an understanding of the change process and how it impacts individuals, and strategies to use when helping people through change to ensure results are achieved. This chapter covers the following topics, each of which takes a different perspective on individual change: • Learning and the process of change – in what ways can models of learning help us understand individual change? • The behavioural approach to change – how can we change people’s behaviour? • The cognitive approach to change – how change can be made attractive to people and how people can achieve the results that they want. 14 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change • The psychodynamic approach to change – what’s actually going on for people. • The humanistic psychology approach to change – how can people maximize the benefits of change? • Personality and change – how do we differ in our responses to change? • Managing change in self and others – if we can understand people’s internal experience and we know what changes need to happen, what is the best way to effect change? As the box points out, a key point for managers of change is to understand the distinction between the changes being managed in the external world and the concurrent psychological transitions that are experienced internally by people (including managers themselves). FOOD FOR THOUGHT It was the ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who maintained that you never step into the same river twice. Of course most people interpret that statement as indicating that the river – that is, the external world – never stays the same, is always changing: constant flux, in Heraclitus’s words again. However, there is another way of interpreting what he said. Perhaps the ‘you’ who steps into the river today is not the same ‘you’ who will step into the river tomorrow. This interpretation – which might open up a whole can of existential and philosophical worms – is much more to do with the inner world of experience than with the external world of facts and figures. Immediately, therefore, we have two ways of looking at and responding to change: the changes that happen in the outside world and those changes that take place in the internal world. Often though, it is the internal reaction to external change that proves the most fruitful area of discovery, and it is often in this area that we find the reasons external changes succeed or fail. 15 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ To demonstrate this we will draw on four approaches to change. These are the behavioural, the cognitive, the psychodynamic and the humanistic psychological approaches, as shown in Figure 1.1. Figure 1.1 Four approaches to individual change We will also look at Edgar Schein’s analysis of the need to reduce anxiety about the change by creating psychological safety. This is further illumin­ ated by discussion of the various psychodynamics that come into play when individuals are faced with change, loss and renewal. Finally, we will explore tools and techniques that can be used to make the transition somewhat smoother and somewhat quicker. This will include a summary of how the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator™, which is used to develop personal and interpersonal awareness, can illuminate the managerial challenges at each stage of the individual change process. But first we will begin our exploration by looking at how individuals learn. LEARNING AND THE PROCESS OF CHANGE Buchanan and Huczynski (1985) define learning as ‘the process of acquiring knowledge through experience which leads to a change in behaviour’. Learning is not just an acquisition of knowledge, but the application of it through doing something different in the world. Many of the change scenarios that you find yourself in require you to learn something new, or to adjust to a new way of operating, or to 16 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change Performance unlearn something. Obviously this is not always the case – a company takes over your company but retains the brand name, the management team and it is ‘business as usual’ – but often in the smallest of changes you need to learn something new: your new boss’s likes and dislikes, for example. A useful way of beginning to understand what happens when we go through change is to take a look at what happens when we first start to learn something new. Let us take an example of driving your new car for the first time. For many people the joy of a new car is tempered by the nervousness of driving it for the first time. Getting into the driving seat of your old car is an automatic response, as is doing the normal checks, turning the key and driving off. However, with a new car all the buttons and control panels might be in different positions. One can go through the process of locating them either through trial and error, or perhaps religiously reading through the driver’s manual first. But that is only the beginning, because you know that when you are actually driving any manner of things might occur that will require an instantaneous response: sounding the horn, flashing your lights, putting the hazard lights on or activating the windscreen wipers. All these things you would have done automatically but now you need to think about them. Thinking not only requires time, it also requires a ‘psychological space’ which it is not easy to create when driving along at Time Figure 1.2 The learning dip 17 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ your normal speed. Added to this is the nervousness you may have about it being a brand new car and therefore needing that little bit more attention so as to avoid any scrapes to the bodywork. As you go through this process, an external assessment of your performance would no doubt confirm a reduction in your efficiency and effectiveness for a period of time. And if one were to map your internal state your confidence levels would most likely dip as well. Obviously this anxiety falls off over time. This is based on your capacity to assimilate new information, the frequency and regularity with which you have changed cars, and how often you drive. Conscious and unconscious competence and incompetence Another way of looking at what happens when you learn something new is to view it from a Gestalt perspective. The Gestalt psychologists suggested that people have a worldview that entails some things being in the foreground and others being in the background of their consciousness. To illustrate this, the room where I am writing this looks out on to a gravel path which leads into a cottage garden sparkling with the sun shining on the frost-covered shrubs. Before I chose to look up, the garden was tucked back into the recesses of my consciousness. (I doubt whether it was even in yours.) By focusing attention on it I brought it into the foreground of my consciousness. Likewise all the colours in the garden are of equal note, until someone mentions white and I immediately start to notice the snowdrops, the white narcissi and the white pansies. They have come into my foreground. Now in those examples it does not really matter what is fully conscious or not. However, in the example of driving a new car for the first time, something else is happening. Assuming that I am an experienced driver, many of the aspects of driving, for me, are unconscious. All of these aspects I hopefully carry out competently. So perhaps I can drive for many miles on a motorway, safe in the knowledge that a lot of the activ­ ities I am performing I am actually doing unconsciously. We might say I am unconsciously competent. However, as soon as I am in the new situation of an unfamiliar car I realize that many of the things I took for granted I cannot now do as well as before. I have become conscious of 18 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change my incompetence. Through some trial and error and some practice and some experience I manage – quite consciously – to become competent again. But it has required focus and attention. All these tasks have been in the forefront of my world and my consciousness. It will only be after a further period of time that they recede to the background and I become unconsciously competent again (Figure 1.3). Unconscious competence Unconscious incompetence Conscious incompetence Conscious competence Unconscious competence Figure 1.3 Unconscious competence Of course there is another cycle: not the one of starting at unconscious competence, but one of starting at unconscious incompetence! This is where you do not know what you do not know, and the only way of realizing is by making a mistake (and reflecting upon it), or when someone kind enough and brave enough tells you. From self-reflection or from others’ feedback your unconscious incompetence becomes conscious, and you are able to begin the cycle of learning. Kolb’s learning cycle David Kolb (1984) developed a model of experiential learning, which unpacked how learning occurs, and what stages a typical individual goes 19 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ through in order to learn. It shows that we learn through a process of doing and thinking (see Figure 1.4). The labels of activist, reflector, theor­ ist and pragmatist are drawn from the work of Honey and Mumford (1992). Figure 1.4 Kolb’s learning cycle Following on from the earlier definition of learning as ‘the process of acquiring knowledge through experience which leads to a change in behaviour’, Kolb saw this as a cycle through which the individual has a concrete experience. The individual does something, reflects upon his or her specific experience, makes some sense of the experience by drawing some general conclusions, and plans to do things differently in the future. Kolb would argue that true learning could not take place without someone going through all stages of the cycle. In addition, research by Kolb suggested that different individuals have different sets of preferences or styles in the way they learn. Some of us are quite activist in our approach to learning. We want to experience what it is that we need to learn. We want to dive into the swimming pool and see what happens (immerse ourselves in the task). Some of us would like to think about it first! We like to 20 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change reflect, perhaps on others’ experience before we take action. The theorists might like to see how the act of swimming relates to other forms of sporting activity, or investigate how other mammals take the plunge. The pragmatists amongst us have a desire to relate what is happening to their own circumstances. They are interested in how the act of swimming will help them to achieve their goals. Not only do we all have a learning preference but also the theory suggests that we can get stuck within our preference. FOOD FOR THOUGHT If you were writing a book on change and wanted to maximize the learning for all of your readers perhaps you would need to: • encourage experimentation (activist); • ensure there were ample ways of engendering reflection through questioning (reflector); • ensure the various models were well researched (theorist); • illustrate your ideas with case studies and show the relevance of what you are saying by giving useful tools, techniques and applications (pragmatist). So activists may go from one experience to the next, not thinking to review how the last one went or planning what they would do differently. The reflector may spend inordinate amounts of time conducting project and performance reviews, but not necessarily embedding any learning into the next project. Theorists can spend a lot of time making connections and seeing the bigger picture by putting the current situation into a wider context, but they may not actually get around to doing anything. Pragmatists may be so intent on ensuring that it is relevant to their job that they can easily dismiss something that does not at first appear that useful. 21 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ STOP AND THINK! Q 1.1 A new piece of software arrives in the office or in your home. How do you go about learning about it? • Do you install it and start trying it out? (Activist) • Do you watch as others show you how to use it? (Reflector) • Do you learn about the background to it and the similarities with other programmes? (Theorist) • Do you not bother experimenting until you find a clear purpose for it? (Pragmatist) THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH TO CHANGE The behavioural approach to change, as the name implies, very much focuses on how one individual can change another individual’s behaviour using reward and punishment, to achieve intended results. If the intended results are not being achieved, an analysis of the individual’s behaviour will lead to an understanding of what is contributing to success and what is contributing to non-achievement. To elicit the preferred behaviour the individual must be encouraged to behave that way, and discouraged from behaving any other way. This approach has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, an organization is under­ going a planned programme of culture change, moving from being an inwardly-focused bureaucratic organization to a flatter and more responsive customer-oriented organ­ ization. Customer-facing and back office staff will all need to change the way they behave towards customers and towards each other to achieve this change. A behavioural approach to change will focus on changing the behaviour of staff and managers. The objective will be behaviour change, and there 22 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change will not necessarily be any attention given to improving processes, improving relationships or increasing involvement in goal setting. There will be no interest taken in how individuals specifically experience that change. This whole field is underpinned by the work of a number of practi­ tioners. The names of Pavlov and Skinner are perhaps the most famous. Ivan Pavlov noticed while researching the digestive system of dogs that when his dogs were connected to his experimental apparatus and offered food they began to salivate. He also observed that, over time, the dogs started to salivate when the researcher opened the door to bring in the food. The dogs had learnt that there was a link between the door opening and being fed. This is now referred to as classical conditioning. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Unconditioned stimulus (food) leads to an unconditioned response (salivation). If neutral stimulus (door opening) and unconditioned stimulus (food) are associated, neutral stimulus (now a conditioned stimulus) leads to unconditioned response (now a conditioned response). Pavlov (1928) Further experimental research led others to realize that cats could learn how to escape from a box through positive effects (rewards) and negative effects (punishments). Skinner (1953) extended this research into operant conditioning, looking at the effects of behaviours, not just at the behav­ iours themselves. His experiments with rats led him to observe that they soon learnt that an accidental operation of a lever led to there being food provided. The reward of the food then led to the rats repeating the behaviour. Using the notion of rewards and punishments, additions and sub­ tractions of positive and negative stimuli, four possible situations arise when you want to encourage a specific behaviour, as demonstrated in Table 1.1. 23 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ Table 1.1 Rewards and punishments Actions Positive Negative Addition Positive reinforcement Desired behaviour is deliberately associated with a reward, so that the behaviour is displayed more frequently. Negative addition A punishment is deliberately associated with undesired behaviour, reducing the frequency with which the behaviour is displayed. Subtraction Positive subtraction An unpleasant stimulus previously associated with the desired behaviour is removed, increasing the frequency with which that desired behaviour is displayed. Negative subtraction A pleasant stimulus previously associated with undesired behaviour is removed, which decreases the frequency of such behaviour. STOP AND THINK! Q 1.2 What rewards and what punishments operate in your organization? How effective are they in bringing about change? So in what ways may behaviourism help us with individuals going through change? In any project of planned behaviour change a number of steps will be required: • Step 1: The identification of the behaviours that impact performance. • Step 2: The measurement of those behaviours. How much are these behaviours currently in use? • Step 3: A functional analysis of the behaviours – that is, the identification of the component parts that make up each behaviour. 24 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change • Step 4: The generation of a strategy of intervention – what rewards and punishments should be linked to the behaviours that impact performance. • Step 5: An evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention strategy. Reinforcement strategies When generating reward strategies at Step 4 above, the following possi­ bilities should be borne in mind. Financial reinforcement Traditionally financial reinforcement is the most explicit of the rein­ forcement mechanisms used in organizations today, particularly in salesoriented cultures. The use of bonus payments, prizes and other tangible rewards is common. To be effective the financial reinforcement needs to be clearly, closely and visibly linked to the behaviours and performance that the organization requires. A reward to an outbound call centre employee for a specific number of appointments made on behalf of the sales force would be an example of a reinforcement closely linked to a specified behaviour. A more sophisticated system might link the reward to not only the number of appointments but also the quality of the subsequent meeting and also the quality of the customer interaction. An organization-wide performance bonus unrelated to an individual’s contribution to that performance would be an example of a poorly linked reinforcement. Non-financial reinforcement Feedback Non-financial reinforcement tends to take the form of feedback given to an individual about performance on specific tasks. The more specific the feedback is, the more impactful the reinforcement can be. This feedback can take both positive and negative forms. This might well depend on the 25 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ organizational culture and the managerial style of the boss. This feedback perhaps could take the form of a coaching conversation, where specific effective behaviours are encouraged, and specific ineffective behaviours are discouraged and alternatives generated. Social reinforcement Social reinforcement takes the form of interpersonal actions: that is, communications of either a positive or negative nature. Praise, compliments, general recognition, perhaps greater (or lesser) attention can all act as a positive reinforcement for particular behaviours and outcomes. Similarly social reinforcement could also take the form of ‘naming and shaming’ for ineffective performance. Social reinforcement is not only useful for performance issues, but can be extremely useful when an organizational culture change is under way. Group approval or disapproval can be a determining factor in defin­ ing what behaviours are acceptable or unacceptable within the culture. New starters in an organization often spend quite some time working out which behaviours attract which reactions from bosses and colleagues. Motivation and behaviour The pure behaviourist view of the world, prevalent in industry up to the 1960s, led to difficulties with motivating people to exhibit the ‘right’ behaviours. This in turn led researchers to investigate what management styles worked and did not work. In 1960 Douglas McGregor published his book The Human Side of Enterprise. In it he described his Theory X and Theory Y, which looked at underlying management assumptions about an organization’s workforce, as demonstrated in Table 1.2. Theory X was built on the assumption that workers are not inherently motivated to work, seeing it as a necessary evil and therefore needing close supervision. Theory Y stated that human beings generally have a need and a desire to work and, given the right environment, are more than willing to contribute to the organization’s success. McGregor’s research appeared to show that those managers who exhibited Theory Y beliefs were more successful in eliciting good performance from their people. 26 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change Table 1.2 Theory X and Theory Y Theory X assumptions Theory Y assumptions People dislike work They need controlling and direction They require security They are motivated by threats of punishment They avoid taking responsibility They lack ambition They do not use their imagination People can be creative and innovative People regard work as natural and normal They respond to more than just control or coercion, for example recognition and encouragement They commit to the organization’s objectives in line with the rewards offered They seek some inner fulfilment from work Given the right environment people willingly accept responsibility and accountability Source: McGregor (1960) Frederick Herzberg also investigated what motivated workers to give their best performance. He was an American clinical psychologist who suggested that workers have two sets of drives or motivators: a desire to avoid pain or deprivation (hygiene factors) and a desire to learn and develop (motivators) (see Table 1.3). His work throughout the 1950s and 1960s suggested that many organizations provided the former but not the latter. An important insight of his was that the hygiene factors did not motiv­ ate workers, but that their withdrawal would demotivate the workforce. Although later research has not fully replicated his findings, Herzberg’s seminal, ‘One more time: How do you motivate employees?’ (1968) has generated more reprints than any other Harvard Business Review article. STOP AND THINK! Q 1.3 What are the underlying assumptions built into the behaviourist philosophy, and how do they compare to McGregor’s theories? Q 1.4 In a change programme based on the behaviourist approach, what added insights would Herzberg’s ideas bring? Q 1.5 If one of your team members is not good at giving presentations, how would you address this using behaviourist ideas? 27 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ Table 1.3 Herzberg’s motivating factors Hygiene factors Motivators Pay Company policy Quality of supervision/management Working relations Working conditions Status Security Achievement Recognition Responsibility Advancement Learning The type and nature of the work Source: adapted from Herzberg (1968) Summary of the behavioural approach If you were to approach change from a behavioural perspective you are more likely to be acting on the assumption of McGregor’s Theory X: the only way to motivate and align workers to the change effort is through a combination of rewards and punishments. You would spend time and effort ensuring that the right reward strategy and performance management system was in place and was clearly linked to an individual’s behaviours. Herzberg’s ideas suggest that there is something more at play than reward and punishment when it comes to motivating people. That is not to say that the provision of Herzberg’s motivators cannot be used as some sort of reward for correct behaviour. THE COGNITIVE APPROACH TO CHANGE Cognitive psychology developed out of a frustration with the behaviourist approach. The behaviourists focused solely on observable behaviour. Cognitive psychologists were much more interested in learning about developing the capacity for language and a person’s capacity for problem solving. They were interested in things that happen within a person’s 28 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change brain. These are the internal processes which behavioural psychology did not focus on. Cognitive theory is founded on the premise that our emotions and our problems are a result of the way we think. Individuals react in the way that they do because of the way they appraise the situation they are in. By changing their thought processes, individuals can change the way they respond to situations. People control their own destinies by believing in and acting on the values and beliefs that they hold. R Quackenbush, Central Michigan University Much groundbreaking work has been done by Albert Ellis on rationalemotive therapy (Ellis and Grieger, 1977) and Aaron Beck on cognitive therapy (1970). Ellis emphasized: [T]he importance of 1) people’s conditioning themselves to feel disturbed (rather than being conditioned by parental and other external sources); 2) their biological as well as cultural tendencies to think ‘crookedly’ and to needlessly upset themselves; 3) their uniquely human tendencies to invent and create disturbing beliefs, as well as their tendencies to upset themselves about their disturbances; 4) their unusual capacity to change their cognitive, emotive and behavioural processes so that they can: a) choose to react differently from the way they usually do; b) refuse to upset themselves about almost anything that may occur, and c) train themselves so that they can semi-automatically remain minimally disturbed for the rest of their lives. (Ellis, in Henrik, 1980) If you keep doing what you’re doing you’ll keep getting what you get. Anon 29 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ Beck developed cognitive therapy based on ‘the underlying theoretical rationale that an individual’s affect (moods, emotions) and behaviour are largely determined by the way in which he construes the world; that is, how a person thinks determines how he feels and reacts’ (A John Rush, in Henrik, 1980). Belief system theory emerged principally from the work of Rokeach through the 1960s and 1970s. He suggested that an individual’s self concept and set of deeply held values were both central to that person’s beliefs and were his or her primary determinant. Thus individuals’ values influence their beliefs, which in turn influence their attitudes. Individuals’ attitudes influence their feelings and their behaviour – ‘an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to alternative modes of conduct or end-states of existence’ (Rokeach, 1973: 5). Out of these approaches has grown a way of looking at change within individuals in a very purposeful way. Essentially individuals need to look at the way they limit themselves through adhering to old ways of thinking, and replace that with new ways of being. This approach is focused on the results that you want to achieve, although crucial to their achievement is ensuring that there is alignment throughout the cause and effect chain. The cognitive approach does not refer to the external stimuli and the responses to the stimuli. It is more con­ cerned with what individuals plan to achieve and how they go about this. Achieving results Key questions in achieving results in an organizational context, as shown in Figure 1.5, are: • Self concept and values: what are my core values and how do they dovetail with those of my organization? • Beliefs and attitudes: what are my limiting beliefs and attitudes and with what do I replace them? • Feelings: what is my most effective state of being to accomplish my goals and how do I access it? 30 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change • Behaviour: what specifically do I need to be doing to achieve my goals and what is my first step? • Results: what specific outcomes do I want and what might get in the way? Figure 1.5 Achieving results Setting goals The cognitive approach advocates the use of goals. The assumption is that the clearer the goal, the greater the likelihood of achievement. Consider the following case study. Graduates at Yale University in the United States were surveyed over a period of 20 years. Of those surveyed, 3 per cent were worth more than the other 97 per cent put together. There were no correlations with parental wealth, gender or ethnicity. The only difference between the 3 per cent and the 97 per cent was that the former had clearly articulated and written goals, and the latter grouping did not. (This is perhaps just an apocryphal story, as the details of this case study are much quoted on many ‘positive thinking’ websites but we have been unable to trace the research back to where it should have originated at Yale.) However, research undertaken by one of the authors (Green, 2001) into what makes for an outstanding sales person suggests that in the two key areas of business focus and personal motivation, goals setting looms large. The outstanding sales people had clearer and more challenging business targets that they set themselves. These were coupled with very clear personal goals as to what the sales person wanted to achieve per­ sonally with the rewards achieved by business success. This is further backed up by research conducted by Richard Bandler and John Grinder (1979), creators of neuro-linguistic programming, who found that the more successful psychotherapists were those who were able to get their clients to define exactly what wellness looked like. This in turn led to the idea of a ‘well-formed outcome’ that enabled 31 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ significantly better results to be achieved by those who set clear goals as opposed to those with vague goals. The goals themselves were also more ambitious. Making sense of our results The cognitive approach suggests we pay attention to the way in which we talk to ourselves about results. For example, after a particularly good performance one person might say things such as, ‘I knew I could do it, I’ll be able to do that again.’ Another person might say something like, ‘That was lucky, I doubt whether I’ll be able to repeat that.’ Likewise, after a poor or ineffective performance our first person might say something like, ‘I could do that a lot better next time’, while the second person might say, ‘I thought as much, I knew that it would turn out like this.’ Once we have identified our usual way of talking to ourselves we can look at how these internal conversations with ourselves limit us, then consider changing the script. FOOD FOR THOUGHT Reflect upon a time when you did not achieve one of your results: • What did you say to yourself? • What was your limiting belief? • What is the opposite belief? • What would it be like to hold the new belief? • How might your behaviour change as a result? • What results would you achieve as a consequence? Techniques for change The cognitive approach has generated numerous techniques for changing the beliefs of people and thereby improving their performance. These include the following. 32 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change Positive listings Simply list all the positive qualities you have, such as good feelings, good experiences, good results, areas of skills, knowledge and expertise. By accepting that these are all part of you, the individual, you can reinforce all these positive thoughts, feelings and perceptions, which then lead to enhanced beliefs. Affirmations An affirmation is a positive statement describing the way that you want to be. It is important that the statement is: • Personal: ‘I am always enthusiastic when it comes to work!’ It is you who this is about, and it is as specific as you can make it. • Present tense: ‘I am always enthusiastic when it comes to work!’ It is not in the future, it is right now. • Positive: ‘I am always enthusiastic when it comes to work!’ It describes a positive attribute, not the absence of a negative attribute. • Potent: ‘I am always enthusiastic when it comes to work!’ Use words that mean something to you. Try writing your own affirmation. Put it on a card and read it out 10 times a day. As you do so, remember to imagine what you would feel, what you would see, what you would hear if it were true. Visualizations Visualizations are very similar to affirmations but focus on a positive, present mental image. Effective visualizations require you to enter a relaxed state where you imagine a specific example of the way you want to be. You imagine what you and others would see, what would be heard and what would be felt. Using all your senses you imagine yourself achieving the specific goal. You need to practise this on a regular basis. 33 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ Reframing Reframing is a technique for reducing feelings and thoughts that impact negatively on performance. You get daunted when going in to see the senior management team? Currently you see them looming large, full of colour, vitality and menacing presence? Imagine them in the boardroom, but this time see them all in grey. Maybe shrink them in size, as you would a piece of clip art in a document that you are word-processing. Turn down their volume so they sound quite quiet. Run through this several times and see what effect it has on your anxiety. Pattern breaking Pattern breaking is a technique of physically or symbolically taking attention away from a negative state and focusing it on a positive. Take the previous example of going into the boardroom to meet the senior management team (or it could be you as the senior manager going out to meet the staff and feeling a little awkward). You find you have slipped into being a bit nervous, and catch yourself. Put your hand in the shape of a fist to your mouth and give a deep cough, or at an appropriate moment clap your hands firmly together and say, ‘Right, what I was thinking was ....’ Once you’ve done the distraction, you can say to yourself, ‘That wasn’t me. This is me right now.’ Detachment This is a similar technique with the same aim. Imagine a time when you did not like who you were. Perhaps you were in the grip of a strong negative emotion. See yourself in that state, then imagine yourself stepping outside or away from your body, leaving all that negativity behind and becoming quite calm and detached and more rational. When you next catch yourself being in one of those moods, try stepping outside of yourself. Anchoring and resource states These are two techniques where you use a remembered positive experience from the past which has all the components of success. For example, 34 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change remember a time in the past where you gave an excellent presentation. What did you see? What did you hear? What did you feel? Really enter into that experience, then pinch yourself and repeat a word that comes to mind. Rerun the experience and pinch yourself and say the word. Now try it the other way, pinch yourself and say the word – and the experience should return. Before your next presentation, as you go into the room reconnect to the positive experience by pinching yourself and saying the word. Does it work? If it does not, simply try something else. Rational analysis Rational analysis is a cognitive technique par excellence. It is based on the notion that our beliefs are not necessarily rational: ‘I could never do that’ or, ‘I’m always going to be like that’. Rational analysis suggests you write down all the reasons that are incorrect. You need to be specific and not generalize (for example, ‘I’m always doing that’ – always?). You need to set measurable criteria, objectively based, and you need to use your powers of logic. By continuously proving that this is an irrational belief you will eventually come to disbelieve it. STOP AND THINK! Q 1.6 What might the main benefits be of a cognitive approach? Q 1.7 What do you see as some of the limitations of this approach? Summary of the cognitive approach The cognitive approach builds on the behaviourist approach by putting behaviour into the context of beliefs, and focusing more firmly on outcomes. Many cognitive techniques are used in the field of management today, particularly in the coaching arena. This approach involves focusing on building a positive mental attitude and some stretching goals, backed up by a detailed look at what limiting beliefs produce behaviour that becomes self-defeating. A drawback of the cognitive approach is the lack of recognition of the inner emotional world of the individual, and the positive and negative 35 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ impact that this can have when attempting to manage change. Some obstacles to change need to be worked through, and cannot be made ‘ok’ by reframing or positive talk. THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH TO CHANGE The idea that humans go through a psychological process during change became evident due to research published by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (1969). The word ‘psychodynamic’ is based on the idea that when facing change in the external world, an individual can experience a variety of internal psychological states. As with the behavioural and cognitive approaches to change, research into the psychodynamic approach began not in the arena of organizations, but for Kubler-Ross in the area of terminally ill patients. Later research showed that individuals going through changes within organizations can have very similar experiences, though perhaps less dramatic and less traumatic. The Kubler-Ross model Kubler-Ross published her seminal work, On Death and Dying in 1969. This described her work with terminally ill patients and the different psychological stages that they went through in coming to terms with their condition. Clearly this research was considered to have major implications for people experiencing other types of profound change. Kubler-Ross realized that patients – given the necessary conditions – would typically go through five stages as they came to terms with their prognosis. The stages were denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. 36 Self esteem ____________________________________________________________ Individual change Denial Anger Acceptance Bargaining Depression Time Figure 1.6 The process of change and adjustment Source: based on Kubler-Ross (1969) Denial People faced with such potentially catastrophic change would often not be able to accept the information. They would deny it to themselves. That is, they would not actually take it in, but would become emotionally numb and have a sense of disbelief. Some would argue that this is the body’s way of allowing people to prepare themselves for what is to follow. On a more trivial scale, some of us have experienced the numbness and disbelief when our favourite sports team is defeated. There is little that we can do but in a sense ‘shut down’. We do not want to accept the news and expose ourselves to the heartache that that would bring. Anger When people allow themselves to acknowledge what is happening they enter the second stage, typically that of anger. They begin to ask themselves questions like, ‘Why me?’, ‘How could such a thing happen to someone like me? If only it had been someone else’, ‘Surely it’s the doctors who are to blame – perhaps they’ve misdiagnosed’ (back into denial). ‘Why didn’t they catch it in time?’ Anger and frustration can be focused externally, but for some of us it is ourselves we blame. Why did we not see it coming, give up smoking? ‘It’s always me who gets into trouble.’ 37 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ In some ways we can see this process as a continuation of our not wanting to accept the change and of wanting to do something, anything, other than fully believe it. Anger is yet another way of displacing our real feelings about the situation. Bargaining When they have exhausted themselves by attacking others (or themselves) people may still want to wrest back some control of the situation or of their fate. Kubler-Ross saw bargaining as a stage that people would enter now. For those who themselves are dying, and also for those facing the death of a loved one, this stage can be typified by a conversation with themselves. Or if they are religious, this may be a conversation with God, which asks for an extension of time. ‘If I promise to be good from now on, if I accept some remorse for any ills I have committed, if I could just be allowed to live to see my daughter’s wedding, I’ll take back all the nasty things I said about that person if you’ll only let them live.’ Once again we can see this stage as a deflection of the true gravity of the situation. This is bargaining, perhaps verging on panic. The person is desperately looking around for something, anything, to remedy the situation. ‘If only I could get it fixed or sorted everything would be all right.’ Depression When it becomes clear that no amount of bargaining is going to provide an escape from the situation, perhaps the true momentousness of it kicks in. How might we react? Kubler-Ross saw her patients enter a depression at this stage. By depression we mean mourning or grieving for loss, because in this situation we will be losing all that we have ever had and all those we have ever known. We shall be losing our future, we shall be losing our very selves. We are at a stage where we are ready to give up on everything. We are grieving for the loss that we are about to endure. For some, this depression can take the form of apathy or a sense of pointlessness. For others it can take the form of sadness, and for some a mixture of intense emotions and disassociated states. 38 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change Acceptance Kubler-Ross saw many people move out of their depression and enter a fifth stage of acceptance. Perhaps we might add the word ‘quiet’ to acceptance, because this is not necessarily a happy stage, but it is a stage where people can in some ways come to terms with the reality of their situation and the inevitability of what is happening to them. People have a sense of being fully in touch with their feelings about the situation, their hopes and fears, their anxieties. They are prepared. Further clinical and management researchers have added to KublerRoss’s five stages, in particular Adams et al (1976) as follows and as illustrated in Figure 1.7: Figure 1.7 Adams, Hayes and Hopson’s (1976) change curve • shock and/or surprise: really a subset of denial but characterized by a sense of disbelief; • denial: total non-acceptance of the change and maybe ‘proving’ to oneself that it is not happening and hoping that it will go away; • anger: experiencing anger and frustration but really in an unaware sort of way, that is, taking no responsibility for your emotions; • bargaining: the attempt to avoid the inevitable; 39 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ • depression: hitting the lows and responding (or being unresponsive) with apathy or sadness; • acceptance: the reality of the situation is accepted; • experimentation: after having been very inward looking with acceptance, the idea arrives that perhaps there are things ‘out there’: ‘Perhaps some of these changes might be worth at least thinking about. Perhaps I might just ask to see the job description of that new job’; • discovery: as you enter this new world that has changed there may be the discovery that things are not as bad as you imagined. Perhaps the company was telling the truth when it said there would be new opportunities and a better way of working. The authors have noted that there can be a preliminary stage around the initial stage of shock – one of relief: ‘At least I now know what’s happening, I had my suspicions, I wasn’t just being paranoid.’ Virginia Satir model Virginia Satir, a family therapist, developed her model (Satir et al, 1991) after observing individuals and families experience a wide range of changes. Her model not only has a number of stages but also highlights two key events that disturb or move an individual’s experience along: the foreign element and the transforming idea; see Figure 1.8. She describes the initial state as one of maintaining the status quo. We have all experienced periods within our lives – at home or at work – where day-to-day events continue today as they have done in previous days, and no doubt will be the same tomorrow. It may be that the organization you are working in is in a mature industry with well established working practices which need little or no alteration. This is a state in which if you carry on doing what you are doing, you will continue to get what you are getting. The situation is one of relative equilibrium where all parts of the system are in relative harmony. That is not to say, of course, that there is no dissatisfaction. It is just that no one is effecting change. 40 Performance ____________________________________________________________ Individual change Foreign element Transforming idea New status quo Old status quo Integration & practice Chaos Time Figure 1.8 Satir’s model This changes when something new enters the system. Satir calls it a ‘foreign element’ in the sense that a factor previously not present is introduced. As with the examples from the two previous models, it might be the onset of an illness or, in the world of work, a new chief executive with ideas about restructuring. Whatever the nature of this foreign element, it has an effect. A period of chaos ensues. Typically this is internal chaos. The world itself may continue to function but the individual’s own perceived world might be turned upside down, or inside out. He or she may be in a state of disbelief – denial or emotional numbness – at first, not knowing what to think or feel or how to act. Individuals may resist the notion that things are going to be different. Indeed they may actually try to redouble their efforts to ensure that the status quo continues as long as possible, even to the extent of sabotaging the new ideas that are forthcoming. Their support networks, which before had seemed so solid, might now not be trusted to help and support the individual. They may not know who to trust or where to go for help. During this period of chaos, we see elements of anger and disorganization permeating the individual’s world. Feelings of dread, panic and 41 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ despair are followed by periods of apathy and a sense of pointlessness. At moments like this it may well seem like St John of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul (2003) when all hope has vanished. But it is often when things have reached their very worst that from somewhere – usually from within the very depths of the person – the germ of an idea or an insight occurs. In the Kubler-Ross model, the individual is coming to terms with the reality of the situation and experien­ cing acknowledgement and acceptance. He or she has seen the light, or at least a glimmer of hope. An immense amount of work may still need to be done, but the individual has generated this transforming idea, which spreads some light on to the situation, and perhaps shows him or her a way out of the predicament. Once this transforming idea has taken root, the individual can begin the journey of integration. Thus this period of integration requires the new world order to be assimilated into the individual’s own world. Imagine a restructuring has taken place at your place of work. You have gone through many a sleepless night worrying what job you may end up in, or whether you will have a role at the end of the change. The jobs on offer do not appeal at all to you at first (‘Why didn’t they ask me for my views when they formulated the new roles?’, ‘If they think I’m applying for that they have another think coming!’). However, as the chief executive’s thinking is made clearer through better communications, you grudgingly accept that perhaps he did have a point in addressing the complacency within the firm. Then perhaps one day you wake up and feel that maybe you might just have a look at that job description for the job in Operations. You have never worked in that area before and you have heard a few good things about the woman in charge. You begin to accept the idea of a new role and ‘try it on for size’. Perhaps at first you are just playing along, but soon it becomes less experimentation and more of an exploration. As time moves on the restructure is bedded into the organization, roles and responsibilities clarified, new objectives and ways of working specified and results achieved. A new status quo is born. The scars are still there perhaps but they are not hurting so much. Gerald Weinberg (1997), in his masterly book on change, but with a title that might not appeal to everyone (Quality Software Management, 42 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change Old status quo Foreign element introduced Reject Try to reject foreign element Can’t reject Accommodate Try to accommodate foreign element in old model CHAOS Can’t accommodate Transforming idea Try to transform old model to receive foreign element Can’t transform Transform Try to integrate Can’t integrate Integrate New status quo Master Figure 1.9 Practice to master transformed model Can’t master Critical points in the change process Source: Weinberg (1997) Reprinted by permission of Dorset House Publishing. All rights reserved. Volume 4: Anticipating change) draws heavily on the Satir model and maps on to it the critical points that can undermine or support the change process (see Figure 1.9). Weinberg shows that if the change is not planned well enough, or if the receivers of change consciously or unconsciously decide to resist, the change effort will falter. Summary of the psychodynamic approach The psychodynamic approach is useful for managers who want to understand the reactions of their staff during a change process and deal with 43 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ them. These models allow managers to gain an understanding of why people react the way they do. It identifies what is going on in the inner world of their staff when they encounter change. As with all models, the ones we have described simplify what can be quite a complex process. Individuals do not necessarily know that they are going through different phases. What they may experience is a range of different emotions (or lack of emotion), which may cluster together into different groupings which could be labelled one thing or another. Any observer, at the time, might see manifestations of these different emotions played out in the individual’s behaviour. Research suggests that these different phases may well overlap, with the predominant emotion of one stage gradually diminishing over time as a predominant emotion of the next stage takes hold. For example, the deep sense of loss and associated despondency, while subsiding over time, might well swell up again and engulf the individual with grief, either for no apparent reason, or because of a particular anniversary, contact with a particular individual or an external event reported on the news. Individuals will go through a process which, either in hindsight or from an observer’s point of view, will have a number of different phases which themselves are delineated in time and by different characteristics. However, the stages themselves will not necessarily have clear beginnings or endings, and characteristics from one stage may appear in other stages. Satir’s model incorporates the idea of a defining event – the transforming idea – that can be seen to change, or be the beginning of the change for, an individual. It may well be an insight, or waking up one morning and sensing that a cloud had been lifted. From that point on there is a qualitative difference in the person undergoing change. He or she can see the light at the end of the tunnel, or have a sense that there is a future direction. Key learnings here are that everyone to some extent goes through the highs and lows of the transitions curve, although perhaps in different times and in different ways. It is not only perfectly natural and normal but actually an essential part of being human. 44 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change STOP AND THINK! Q 1.8 Think of a current or recent change in your organization. • Can you map the progress of the change on to Satir’s or Weinberg’s model? • At what points did the change falter? • At what points did it accelerate? • What factors contributed in each case? THE HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY APPROACH TO CHANGE The humanistic psychological approach to change combines some of the insights from the previous three approaches while at the same time developing its own. It emerged as a movement in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. The American Association of Humanistic Psychology describes it as ‘concerned with topics having little place in existing theories and systems: eg love, creativity, self, growth … self-actualization, higher values, being, becoming, responsibility, meaning … transcendental experience, peak experience, courage and related concepts’. In this section we look at how the humanistic approach differs from the behavioural and cognitive approaches, list some of the key assumptions of this approach, and look at three important models within humanistic psychology. Table 1.4 charts some of the similarities and differences between the psychoanalytic, behavioural, cognitive and humanistic approaches. Although taken from a book more concerned with counselling and psycho­ therapy, it illustrates where humanistic psychology stands in relation to the other approaches. Humanistic psychology has a number of key areas of focus: • the importance of subjective awareness as experienced by the individual; 45 The underpinning theory _______________________________________________________ Table 1.4 The psychoanalytic, behavioural, cognitive and humanistic approaches Theme Psychoanalytic Behavioural Cognitive Humanistic Psychodynamic approach – looking for what is behind surface behaviour Action approach – looking at actual conduct of person, trying new things Acknowledgement of importance of sensemaking, resistance, etc Use of imagery, creativity Use in groups as well as individual Emphasis on whole person Emphasis on gratification, joy, individuation Adoption of medical model of mental illness Felt experience of the practitioner important as a tool for change Mechanistic approach to client Open to new paradigm research methods Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Source: adapted from Rowan (1983). Note: Although the humanistic and psychoanalytic approaches are both psychodynamic, we have differentiated between them to focus on the maximizing potential aspect of the humanistic school. 46 ____________________________________________________________ Individual change • the importance of taking responsibility for one’s situations – or at least the assumption that whatever the situation there will be an element of choice in how you think, how you feel and how you act; • the significance of the person as a whole entity (a holistic approach) in the sense that as humans we are not just what we think or what we feel, we are not just our behaviours. We exist within a social and cultural context. In juxtaposition with Freud’s view of the aim of therapy as moving the individual from a state of neurotic anxiety to ordinary unhappiness, humanistic psychology has ‘unlimited aims ... our prime aim is to enable the person to get in touch with their real self’ (Rowan, 1983). Maslow and the hierarchy of needs Maslow did not follow the path of earlier psychologists by looking for signs of ill health and disease. He researched what makes men and women creative, compassionate, spontaneous and able to live their lives to the full. He therefore studied the lives of men and women who had exhibited these traits during their lives, and in so doing came to his theory of motivation, calling it a hierarchy of needs (see Figure 1.10). Maslow believed that human beings have an inbuilt desire to grow and develop and move towards something he called self-actualization. However, in order to develop self-actualization an individual has to overcome or satisfy a number of other needs first. One of Maslow’s insights was that until the lower ...