Change succeeds when stakeholders coordinate their means, motives and opportunities as the organizations willingness, ability and readiness.
The Calculus for Change is Demand-driven and Value-aligned in real time.
Why Manage Change?
The background concept of this framework is that organizational change will occur whether it is managed or not.
The distinctive purpose of management is to establish conditions in which a deliberate change is supported by continuous alignment of ability to a targeted future value.
Obviously, that purpose will then encompass development, evolution and transformation.
But managed change is driven by an environmental condition that strategically demands recovery, growth, or innovation in the organization’s pursuit of purpose.
It represents that the current state is either not necessary or not sufficient as the desired state.
For that reason, managed change is intended to cross the gap between the way the current state is maintained and the future state should be maintained.
Demand-driven Change
Typically, the organization’s ability for change is not explicitly enabled and ready for the operational transition that is intended to occur.
Architectural capacity and Strategic value are the foundation of the effort’s success. The organization must be built for change, and do the right work.
In that light, the management is not about progress and performance; it is about alignment and relevance.
Demand predetermines whether deliberate change is deemed to be successful.
Success and Failure are Value Judgements made at the agreed moment of assessing outcomes.
Successful change is signaled by the adoption of a different state as either the new preferred or new necessary “normal”.
Intended Change
It is critically important to acknowledge the difference between adoption and approval.
Lack of approval may cause an adoption failure; but adoption can and does occur without approval by all affected parties.
As a result, authority is also unavoidable as a factor.
Adoption may happen without corresponding to the conventional authorities.
Meanwhile, the sustainability of a change may or may not be dependent on approval by authority.
Authority is variable.
Typically, the most influence that authority has on change involves the availability of resources required to produce and maintain the change.
The most influence that can be exerted on authority itself is typically an explicit visibility of risk or reward.
What Happens From Here
Framing Assumptions
To date, management perspectives on change have not succeeded in improving the reported rates of success and failure. Now, the issues most commonly expected to challenge change success -- namely, complexity and volatility -- are even more burdening in frequency and variety going forward. Consequently, management itself must be re-envisioned for the purpose of enabling proficiency with continual change. The management frame of reference for change sits in front of several uncommon assertions that are basic to understanding the need for the new perspective.
1. Required value can change at any time, regardless of projected value
2. A change effort is not successful unless the outcome is adopted; termination of effort is not the key state
3. Performance management is the incorrect system of measurement for change; value management is the correct system
4. Change is not a linear process; it is a continuous campaign
5. Relevant change is not executed; it is produced
6. Most failures of change efforts occur because the organization was not sufficiently enabled, regardless of commitments or prior responsibilities
7. Change management is not a subset of project management; projects are simply one type of production tool for intentional change.
The Future Of Change
The role of management in change is to continually cultivate the alignment of effort to the production of valuable responsiveness to demand.
Management must create an enabling ecosystem in the organization for change.
Management’s key “deliverables” are systemic influences on alignment: transparency and communication; flexibility and resilience; and, sustainability and maturity.
To more closely examine the ChangeBridge design of this system of influence, visit our Medium publication of The Change Enablement Framework and contact ChangeBridge to arrange a discussion with your team.