Three Thoughts on Creating Real Change
August 1st, 2008 by Cali & Jody
A must-read: Michael T. Kanazawa’s new manifesto People Don’t Hate Change, They Hate How You’re Trying to Change Them (go here to download the PDF). He tells the story of his “rude awakening” in corporate America (while, coincidentally, working down the hall from future Dilbert creator Scott Adams).
Kanazawa describes attending a meeting for a corporate change program that everyone knew was doomed for failure. He then puts a nice twist on the classic Dilbert moment:
I realized after a couple more of these programs that we weren’t in the land of Dilbert at all.
We were in the land of the Peanuts. People felt like Charlie Brown being baited by Lucy to take just one more run at the football to try and kick it. And, as we all know, running to kick that ball would always end up with Lucy pulling the ball away and poor Charlie Brown flat on his back. People had been fooled by these sugar-high programs that would spike up and be abandoned too many times. They were jaded about these corporate change programs, and rightfully so. So, as leaders, how do we break this cycle? What does it look like for companies that get it right and are able to turn their big ideas into big results?
When we read this paragraph, it was like we were back in grade school and the teacher had asked a question and we absolutely knew the answer. Pick me, Mr. Kanazawa! No, pick me!
In the years we spent helping transform Best Buy from a traditional work environment to a Results-Only Work Environment, we discovered four things that go toward starting to answer that last question:
Meaningful change can start in a corporate auditorium, but the real work is done by the people in their day-to-day jobs
Change doesn’t fit on a memo. Companies that try to pour new ideas into their employees’ heads are doomed to fail. Ideas can act as a catalyst, but people need the freedom (and the support) to bring those ideas to life. (And in their own individual way.) People will listen to what leadership says, but they’re much more interested in what leadership does. Model the desired end state and support, support, support. Otherwise, you’re just like Lucy.
Not everyone will change at the same time, or in exactly the same way
We use the word “migration” to describe the change from a traditional work environment to a ROWE. We chose this word because it implies a certain fluidity. Some people will arrive at the new state right away and with little prompting. Other people take more time. Still others never entirely adapt to the new change. The old command-and-control model assumed that an order given was an order taken. Adaptive change allows people to embrace new ideas at their own pace.
Real change requires a grieving process that is as unavoidable as it is necessary
You can never underestimate how hard it is for people to let go of old ideas, old behaviors, old beliefs. Even if the new reality is a better reality, it’s hard to adapt. Technologies we take for granted today (like e-mail) were hard for some people to embrace. To take this e-mail analogy a little further, we’re still struggling with the complications that e-mail creates. In other words, the process of change never entirely stops. So cut your people some slack, okay?
I also liked this sentence in Kanazawa’s article:
“Is your goal to get the most out of people or the best out of people?”
@Happy - this is something we’d like to ask every manager in offices all over the world. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
Great post.
Leaders modeling change is the most critical aspect of bringing change to an organization. People can smell the insincerity, and will revolt. I have seen it all too often in the organizations I know best.
The grief process is rarely short-term. If a leader can stay long enough to go through the process with the organization, the better the situation. (I have observed this happening infrequently)
Ummm… isn’t that only 3 things?
“…we discovered four things that go toward starting to answer that last question:”
@MICHAEL very nice. We never said we were good at numbers!
For those of you searching for the fourth thing, it doesn’t exist. We only discovered three things and then our brains started hurting.
[...] They overcame many difficulties when developing this concept, but it seems to be worth the effort. In their book they describe the hardest part, sludge. Sludge is the snide comments made by bosses and co-workers that undercut the culture of Results Only Work Environment (ROWE). [...]
Cali and Jody,
Thanks so much for referencing my work on your site. Seems like we’ve walked many of the same corporate halls and learned similar lessons. I’ll need to add your site to my blogroll and take a look at your book.
Mike