Why do so many transformation efforts produce only middling results? One overarching reason is that leaders typically fail to acknowledge that large-scale change can take years. Moreover, a successful change process goes through a series of eight distinct stages. These stages should be worked through in sequence. Skipping steps to try to accelerate the process invariably causes problems. And since the success of a given stage depends on the work done in prior stages, a critical mistake in any of the stages can have a devastating impact. The eight stages are: 1. Establishing a sense of urgency 2. Forming a powerful guiding coalition 3. Creating a vision 4. Communicating the vision 5. Empowering others to act on the vision 6. Planning for and creating short-term wins 7. Consolidating improvements and producing still more change 8. Institutionalizing new approaches The Idea in Practice For each of the stages in a change process, there is a corresponding pitfall. 1. Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency. Half of all change efforts fail at the start. When is the urgency rate high enough? When 75% of management is genuinely convinced that the status quo is, in the words of the CEO of a European company, “more dangerous than launching into the unknown.” 2. Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition. In successful transformation efforts, the chairman or president or general manager of the division, plus another five to 50 others—including many, but not all, of the most influential people in the unit— develop a shared commitment to renewal. 3. Lacking a vision. Without a coherent and sensible vision, a change effort dissolves into a list of confusing and incompatible projects. If you can’t communicate the vision in five minutes or less and get a reaction that indicates both understanding and interest, your work in this stage isn’t done. 4. Undercommunicating the vision by a factor of ten. Use every existing communication vehicle to get the vision out. Incorporate the vision into routine discussions about business problems. 5. Not removing obstacles to the new vision. Renewal requires the removal of obstacles— systemic or human—to the vision. One company’s transformation ground to a halt because the executive in charge of the largest division didn’t change his own behavior, didn’t reward the unconventional ideas called for in the vision, and left the human resource systems intact even though they were incompatible with the new ideals. 6. Not systematically planning for and creating short-term wins. Clearly recognizable victories within the first year or two of a change effort help convince doubters that the change effort is going to be worth all the trouble. 7. Declaring victory too soon. At this stage, it’s fine to celebrate a short-term win, but it’s catastrophic to declare the war over. 8. Not anchoring changes in the corporation’s culture. If they are to stick, new behaviors must be rooted in the social norms and shared values of a corporation. To accomplish this, make a conscious attempt to show people that the new behaviors and approaches have improved performance. Also, make sure that the next generation of top management embodies the new approach. By Supriya Desai Many high performing senior managers, leaders and executives find themselves at some point in their careers faced with the challenge of leading a strategically critical, highly visible transformation program. The company needs to move in a new direction, a start-up must professionalize, product and service innovations must be accelerated, costs must be reduced, or competitive positioning can be strengthened. Whatever the business driver, the initiatives born from strategic calls to action will always change the status quo, and sometimes they’ll transform the organization in very significant ways. Designing and executing a strategic change or transformation program to realize mission-critical business objectives isn’t simple, familiar or easy, yet often times leaders with no previous experience leading big change are put in charge. Natural instincts and leadership talent alone, no matter how robust, won’t get the big financial, business and customer wins necessary from a highly visible transformation effort. There is a proven science to executing change that must be acknowledged and heeded – reflected in the following list of success factors leaders and executives must know to execute strategic change or transformation efforts. Each success factor outlined here shows the key criteria for transformation success along with a few key questions: 1. Define what you are going to do, why you will do it, what the benefits of change are, and what the dangers of not changing are.
2. Create a sense of urgency and then maintain it for the long haul
3. Put governance and management in place; Form a powerful guiding coalition for success
4. Engage key stakeholders - particularly managers - in making change happen
5. Over-communicate the vision & key messages by a factor of 5...at least
6. Remove obstacles to transformation success, especially during implementation
7. Enable real transformation by cultivating a new organizational culture and individual behaviors
8. Realign operations and organization to enable the new vision and support the transformation
9. Upgrade executives' and leaders' skills in change leadership
If you find yourself in charge of a highly visible, strategically critical change program, it is appealing to think of a list like this as a checklist – “if I do these things, we will succeed.” The power of understanding these success factors cannot be underestimated. The real power in this framework, however, is in its’ effective execution. And that’s where experience with big change comes into play – make sure you’ve got people supporting you who have done it before and who understand the nuances involved in each of these factors. While it won’t be as easy as clearing a checklist, understanding the framework and having the right change experience on board will get you far closer to the financial, business and customer outcomes your company must achieve than “winging it.” ASC* Advisory (www.ascadvisory.co) is an executive advisory firm specializing in strategy execution, change and transformation advisory services. Founding Principal Supriya Desai has managed, led or advised dozens of global strategic change and transformation programs. |