Understanding Change

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WHY organization must be
change?

ORDINARY  SUPER
 Two categories of change

Mandated change/ Self-initiated

Top to Down (no or change (high
low autonomy) autonomy)
 “The Leader’s relationship and attitude to change
plays a key part in the way that change is managed
within the organization”
“Understanding your organization makes easy to make
changes”
 CONCEPT 1 :
Lewin (1947) : 3 stage
model of Attitude
Change

Unfreezing - strategies for

gaining support for change
Moving - reducing
resistance, motivating,
cultural change
Refreezing - evaluating and
anchoring change in
organization
 Unfreezi
ng
Breaking down existing ways of
doing things
Discarding conventional methods &
behavioral patterns
Introduce new methods & behavior
Techniques:
Education,
Communication,
Participation in decision-
making, etc.
 Changing or Moving

Move towards proposed

change
New learning
It is a time of trial & error
Careful guidance – problems
arise – tackled efficiently
New beliefs, attitudes gained, behavior learnt are implemented
Manager – Change agent’s role

Reinforcement

Refreezi
ng
 CONCEPT 2 :
Kotter (1996) : Change
Management Process
• Establish a sense of urgency
• Create a Guiding Coalition (a critical mass to drive change)
• Develop a Vision and Strategy
• Communicate the Change Vision
• Empower Action
• Generate Short Term Wins
• Consolidate Gains and Produce More Change
• Anchor New Approaches in Culture
 CONCEPT 3 :
Morgan (1986) : 8 Core Metaphors

Machines (Efficiency, waste, maintenance, order, clockwork, cogs in a wheel, programs, inputs and
outputs, standardization, production, measurement and control, design)

Organisms (Living systems, environmental conditions, adaptation, life cycles, recycling, needs,
homeostasis, evolution, survival of the fittest, health, illness)

Brains (Learning, parallel information processing, distributed control, mindsets, intelligence, feedback,
requisite variety, knowledge, networks)

Cultures (Society, values, beliefs, laws, ideology, rituals, diversity, traditions, history, service, shared
vision and mission, understanding, qualities, families)

Political Systems (Interests and rights, power, hidden agendas and back room deals, authority,
alliances, party-line, censorship, gatekeepers, leaders, conflict management)

Psychic Prisons (Conscious & unconscious processes, repression & regression, ego, denial, projection,
coping & defence mechanisms, pain & pleasure principle, dysfunction, workaholics)

Flux and Transformation (Constant change, dynamic equilibrium, flow, self-organization, systemic
wisdom, attractors, chaos, complexity, butterfly effect, emergent properties, dialectics, paradox)

Instruments of Domination (Alienation, repression, imposing values, compliance, charisma,

maintenance of power, force, exploitation, divide and rule, discrimination, corporate interest)
Using CONCEPT to help understand
your organization

What personal CONCEPT would you use to

describe your organization?
What does the CONCEPT that you chose to
describe your organization say about your
relationship with it?
Do you have any control or power, or are
you ‘powerless’? Do you want to bring
about any change? Do you stand a
chance?
 The Organisational Iceberg
(based on Hellreigel, Slocum and Woodman (1998)

Overt Procedures

Formal Organization Organizational Structure

Technology Financial Resources

Policies and Objectives

Formal Roles / Job Descriptions and Titles

Formal Communication Structures

Rules and Regulations ‘Public Culture’

Hidden Ethos ‘Private Culture’ Values Norms

Organization Attitudes towards one another Loyalties

Personal Aspirations and Goals Power Networks

Management Styles and Values Motivations and Commitment

Rumour machine Fairness in the Reward Systems Cliques

Threats Bullying Hidden Rules The Silent Majority

Success and rewards for those ‘in the know’ Psychological Safety
 Reasons for Change

Factors may lead to a necessity for change

To improve performance
To reduce waste and inefficiency
To improve management control and satisfaction of the employees
To improve the quality and productivity of an organization
To compete in the changing market environment
To achieve the desired business results as early as possible
 Making Change Happen

Two Approaches to Organizational Change

Organization Development (OD)

● Formal top-down approach

Grassroots Change
● An unofficial and informal bottom-up approach.
Change that is spontaneous, informal, experimental,
and driven from within.
 Barriers to Change - identifying
the root causes

Its only by
analyzing where the
problem lies that
you can decide what
to do, and work out
what strategies to
put in place -
strategies should be
context specific
Understanding the
barriers to change
 Individual Resistance
• Lack of trust in those leading process of change

Confusion about purpose of change

Lack of consultation and involvement in process of change

Loss of personal power or freedom

Loss of identity/status - where identity is tied into position or title

Fear of the unknown or future

Loss of skills and the need to retrain, so loss of expertise

Life

Where is the Individual on the ‘ Change Transition’ curve?

 Institutional Resistance
Change not locked into strategic development

‘Wrong’ timeframe

Organizational culture has an in-built inflexibility (new titles but same

old systems and structures beneath)

Inexperienced and inflexible managers who lack charisma, leading

change

Threats to existing power holders

Lacks a ‘fresh’ view of situation

Carries a history of poor change management

Poor people management

Kinchington (2004)
Overcoming Resistance
to Change
Education and communication
Participation and involvement
Facilitation and support
Negotiation and agreement
Leadership
Change Agents

n Change Agents
q Persons who act as catalysts and assume
the responsibility for managing the change
process.
n Types of Change Agents
q Managers: internal entrepreneurs
q Non-managers: change specialists
q Outside consultants: change
implementation experts
Personal Responses
to Change

(Lewis-Parker 7 stage ‘Transition

Curve’, 1981)
 1. Immobilization +
shock (mismatch
between expectations v
reality)
2. Denial of Change
 3. Incompetence (resulting
in increased awareness and
frustration)
4. Acceptance of Reality
(willing to let go)
5. Testing (working out
ways of dealing with the
6. Search for Meaning
(internalizing the
situation and trying to
make sense of it)
7. Integration (leading to
changing viewpoint and
Managing Stress on
Change
 1. Individual
Approaches

Implementing time management

Increasing physical exercise
Relaxation training
Expanding social support network
2. Organizational
Approaches
Improved personnel
selection and job
placement
Training
Use of realistic goal
setting
Redesigning of jobs
Increased employee
involvement
Improved organizational
communication
Offering employee
sabbaticals
Strategies normally used by
managers to Handle
Resistance: Avoidance
Providing Information
Participation
Manipulation
Negotiation
Power/Force
What Can a Manager Do?
 1. Do not ignore the
people side of “change
Management”

The practice of Change Management is a combination of

the methods used by people (usually management
teams) within organizations to ensure organizational
transition is completed efficiently and effectively.
 2. Interpersonal and
communication skills

Their interpersonal and communication skills so that they could help their staff
overcome the pains associated with change.
3. Stop thinking of change
management as a stand-
alone initiative and start
accepting it as an everyday
reality
4. Anticipate what and where the
resistance will be and plan for it
accordingly

All managers need to realize that resistance to

change is normal. Given that change is an ever-
present reality in today’s work place, it is safe to say
that resistant behavior is inevitable in most
organizations. Managers need to identify this
behavior and help staff manage it by utilizing the
proper interpersonal and communications skills.
Lessons from School Leaders
Flintham (2005)
1. Heroic Head - rescues school from
failure
2. Consolidator
Head - steady
hand on tiller
 3. Nurturing Head

Rebuilds fractured relationships and bruised

morale in schools that have been through crisis
or tragedy
 4.
Pruner
Head -
cuts away
dead
wood to
make
room for
new
5. Visionary Head - sees
long term potential and
has extended plan for its
achievement
But what if
there is a
mismatch?
…..
So, where are the ‘sticking points’
in your organization?

Do they lie?
Where do you
need to start?
SWOT?
How urgent is the
need to change?
Is the change Self-
Initiated or
Let’s Start the Change
…