There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.(Niccolo Machiavelli)

Why study Change Management?

The critical need to change and the invevitable resistance to that change is a dilemma which becomes the acid test for every leader.

Successfully managing change is the hidden critical success factor when embarking on strategic management, project management, management of information systems, and other managerial endeavours. Research shows that for organisations, 70 per cent of transformative initiatives fail, mainly because the process of change is not managed well.

Some MBA students who have completed Strategic Management may remember the case of Eastman Kodak Corp who in the 1970s had 90 per cent of the film market in America. They so dominated the market that we all know what is a “Kodak moment”. Unfortunately (for them) they filed for bankruptcy in 2012 because their industry was disrupted by digital camera technology.

The Strategic Management student would want to quickly diagnose that Kodak did not properly assess their external environment to see digital technology coming, so they could react to it. But here is the shocker – in 1975 Eastman Kodak created the first digital cameras! You read it right – they pioneered the technology that bankrupted them!

To press home the point, Fuji Film was dominant in Japan about the same time Kodak was dominant in the USA, and in the same industry. They faced the same external threats, yet Kodak is bankrupt but Fuji Film is doing quite well with currently a US$16 Billion market cap.

What’s the missing piece to the puzzle? Change Management! “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”(Anonymous).

It therefore goes without saying that at a bare minimum, every manager should not only understand the basic tenets of Change Management, but should also know how to apply them. In this article, we will have a quick look at two of the more popular models that can be followed for change initiatives.

Change Management Model- Kotter

John P. Kotter (now retired from Harvard Business School), in his 1996 book, Leading Change, outlined an eight-step model of change management:

Step 1: Create urgency. Not just showing some statistics about the poor state of affairs. People must be convinced to realise for themselves that the status quo is injurious to them.

Step 2: Form a powerful coalition. Gather a team of influential and effective change leaders throughout the organisation.

Step 3: Create a vision for change. This is a compelling vision that people can easily understand and remember.

Step 4: Communicate the vision. As I indicated in my previous article on Leadership – a leader must be able to articulate a compelling vision, over and over and over – until it sticks.

Step 5: Remove obstacles. Take action quickly to remove process, structural and other barriers.

Step 6: Create short-term wins. Start with the short projects that will quickly yield positive returns. This will create the right vibes when people see the possibility of, and feel the euphoria from success.

Step 7: Build on the change. Maintain the momentum. People will always want to slip back into the old paths of least resistance.

Step 8: Anchor the changes in corporate culture. Many change efforts declare success before getting to this stage. Big mistake! There is still the sometimes long, arduous task of making sure the changes stick. Many times the change leaders must tackle the culture and its underpinnings to ensure that people do not slip back to their old ways.

Please note that Kotter has indicated that managers who seek to rush and skip some of the steps do so at their own peril, as all of the eight steps are important.

Change Management Model – Lewin

Lewin’s model pre-dates Kotter’s and appears to be fairly simplistic:

UNFREEZE CHANGE REFREEZE

However, if you review carefully you will realise that Kotter’s model could easily be viewed as having elaborated on Lewin’s model. By the way, Kurt Lewin is recognised as one of the pioneers of modern social psychology. Actually, one of my views of leadership and management is that it is helpful to have training in psychology to be a better leader – since so much relies on understanding people to be able to lead them successfully.

The “Unfreeze” indicates that the change leader needs to create a thorough dissatisfaction with the status quo, and an inherent understanding that there is the need to remove from the current position with urgency. As indicated before, calling a brief meeting and showing some accounting statements with some losses is inadequate.

At the appropriate time, the change leader would need to introduce the change. Of course timing is important. If you cannot achieve the unfreezing, if may be better to postpone the change – if you have that luxury!

Finally, the last important step is to “Refreeze” in the changed position. Again, as mentioned before, this step is absolutely critical. Many managers have prematurely celebrated success before refreezing, only to rue the fact that after a while, everything is back to square one.

Dr. Kenroy Wedderburn, JP, is a part-time lecturer on the MBA programme at the University of Technology, Jamaica. Send your e-mails to drkwedderburn@gmail.com