Leaders Role in Turning the J-Curve to a Check Mark
Turn the J-Curve to a Check Mark
In 513 B.C., Heraclitus of Greece observed “There is nothing permanent except change.” And in the 16th century, Niccolo Machiavelli stated in his political treatise, The Prince, “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.” The challenge today is that change is not an “engineering” problem. Change involves people, and can call up emotions, uncertainties and inconsistencies.
When organizational changes occur, employees go through the process of change, their performance follows a J curve. Because employees have been doing things one way for a long time, performance often starts at a relatively high level (The Plateau). When a major change in policy and practices occurs, individual and organizational performance can drop precipitously (The Cliff). Next, the performance drop levels out, but it is far below where we were and where we want to be (The valley). As, people learn how to function in the new system, performance begins to improve dramatically (The Ascent). Finally, performance surges above the level at which we started (The Mountaintop). Leaders can learn to accelerate the process of change as well as to minimise the disruption associated with change. It’s possible to turn the J curve into a check mark.
John Kotter, Professor at Harvard, breaks down the process of creating and leading change within an organization into an eight-stage process to bring about the accelerated change.
1. Establishing a sense of urgency
A high level of complacency and a low sense of urgency, constitute the two most significant impediments to change. Most companies face complacency despite the fact that they have highly intelligent and well-intentioned individuals. A strong leader is required to overcome complacency, and to facilitate changes. A leader must establish a crisis to cause employees to realize internal problems; he must eliminate false signs of security; set standards of achievement high enough that “business as usual” will not suffice; broaden functional goals and their measurement to encompass company goals; explicate the reality of performance through the use candor and external feedback; increase employee interaction with the customer; use external consultants for honest feedback; facilitate and encourage honest discussions and eliminate “happy talk”; and emphasize future opportunities and the incredible possibility of success in capitalizing on those opportunities.
2. Creating the change team
In order to actuate change within an organization a strong guiding coalition is needed. The right composition of individuals, level of trust, and shared vision is critical to the success of this team. For such a team to be successful in leading change, it is crucial that its members share a sense of problems, opportunities, and commitment to change. Furthermore, this team must possess significant credibility within the company in order to be effective. There are four steps necessary to put together a guiding coalition. First, position power: does the team possess enough of the right individuals with the skills and influence to affect change? Second, expertise: does the team have the necessary level and diversity of expertise to produce intelligent, informed decisions? Third, credibility: does the group possess the credibility to influence the company and actualize change? Fourth, leadership: does the group include enough legitimate and respected leaders to lead the change process? One of the interesting factors that Kotter describes as “difficulties inherent to the process” is the internal struggle and doubt the guiding coalition has with change. He says that there are many questions that the guiding coalition has to answer in their own minds before they can effectively implement the change within the company.
3. Create a Vision for Change
Once people accept the urgency, they want to know where they are going — they want a clear direction to a better future. Without a vision, the change effort can dissolve into a series of incompatible projects that start to look like change for change’s sake. Successful transformation rests on "a picture of the future that is relatively easy to communicate and appeals to customers, stockholders, and employees. The vision functions in many different ways: it helps spark motivation, it helps keep all the projects and changes aligned, it provides a filter to evaluate how the organization is doing, and it provides a rationale for the changes the organization will have to weather. A useful rule of thumb: if you can’t communicate the vision to someone in five minutes or less and get a reaction that signifies both understanding and interest, you are not yet done with this phase of the transformation process.
4. Communicate the Vision
Kotter suggests the leadership should estimate how much communication of the vision is needed, and then multiply that effort by a factor of ten. The best vision in the world has no value if it’s a big secret. The guiding principle is to use every existing communication channel and opportunity. But leaders must make opportunities to communicate the vision in day-to-day activities. Leaders must be seen "walking the talk" – another form of communication -- if people are going to perceive the effort as important. The bottom line is that a transformation effort will fail unless most of the members understand, appreciate, commit and try to make the effort happen. The seven key elements in the effective communication of vision: simplicity, metaphor, multiple forums, repetition, and leadership by example, explanation of seeming inconsistencies and give-and-take.
5. Empower Employees to Implement Change
The employees must be empowered to act on the vision. Leaders must clear the way for employees to develop new ideas and approaches without being stymied by the old ways. This entails several different actions. Allow organization members to make changes in their areas of involvement. Allocate budget money to the new initiative. Carve out time on meeting agendas to talk about the vision. Change the way the work is organized to put people where the effort needs to be. Free up key people from existing responsibilities so they can concentrate on the new effort. In short, remove any obstacles there may be to getting on with the change. Nothing is more frustrating than believing in the change but then not having the time, money, help, or support needed to effect it. You can’t get rid of all the obstacles, but the biggest ones need to be dealt with. Kotter warns that worst of all can be the bosses who will not change and who make demands contrary to the vision. Such people should be given the opportunity to get on board and embrace the vision. Those who will not…well, a corporate turn-around expert once observed, “Sometimes you gotta change the people, or you gotta change the people!”
6. Plan for Short-term wins
Since real transformation takes time, the loss of momentum and the onset of disappointment are real factors. Most people won’t go on a long march for change unless they begin to see compelling evidence that their efforts are bearing fruit. In successful transformation, leaders actively plan and achieve some short term gains which people will be able to see and celebrate. This provides proof to organization members that their efforts are working, and adds to the motivation to keep the effort going. When it becomes clear to people that major change will take a long time, urgency levels can drop. Commitments to produce short-term wins help keep the urgency level up and force detailed analytical thinking that can clarify or revise visions. However, these short-term wins are only effective if they are visible to many, the terms are unambiguous, and the victory is closely related to the change effort. A victory generated to meet these requirements creates excitement, certainty, momentum, and serves also to quiet critics.
7. Consolidate Improvements and Sustain the Momentum for Change
As Kotter warns, "Do not declare victory too soon". Until changes sink deeply into the enterprise culture – a process that can take five to ten years -- new approaches are fragile and subject to regression. Again, a premature declaration of victory kills momentum, allowing the powerful forces of tradition to regain ground. Leaders of successful efforts use the feeling of victory as the motivation to delve more deeply into their organization: to explore changes in the basic culture, to expose the systems relationships of the organization which need tuning, to move people committed to the new ways into key roles. Leaders of change must go into the process believing that their efforts will take years.
8) Institutionalize the New Approaches
In the final analysis, change sticks when it becomes "the way we do things around here", when it seeps into the bloodstream of the corporate body. "Until new behaviours are rooted in social norms and shared values, they are subject to degradations as soon as the pressure for change is removed". Two factors are particularly important for doing this. First, a conscious attempt to show people how the new approaches, behaviours, and attitudes have helped improve the enterprise. People have to be helped to make the connections between the effort and the outcome. The second is to ensure that the next generation of enterprise leaders believe in and embody the new ways.
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