Leading transformations: Manage change

‘We can’t solve a problem with the same type of thinking that we used in creating it.’ –– Albert Einstein

Einstein was onto something! Traditional approaches to change management try to solve the problem of change by using the same tools that created the problem in the first place. They provide you with designs to implement designs and strategies for executing strategies. This week you will discover the importance of stepping outside the box of conventional change management, colour in the white spaces in the organisation chart, and navigate the messy and choppy waters of the change journey. You will critically analyse the nature and origins of the failure rate of change initiatives, examine how and why modern organisations systematically mislead change and learn what an alternative approach involves.

‘Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.’ –– W.B.Yeats. You already have the knowledge necessary to manage change in your head, your heart and your hands. This knowledge is embedded in the cultural images and counter-images of what managing change involves. This week will help you appreciate the degree to which this is the case and get out of your own way in applying what, in a sense, you already know.

‘The Map is not the territory.’ –– Alfred Korzybski. If change is a journey, what type of journey is it? And what do we need to guide us along the way? This week will provide you with the tools necessary to map out the path you need to take and revise this map along the way. You will learn how to apply the three key mapping tools: ‘gap analysis’; ‘forcefield analysis’ and ‘route analysis’. In combination, these three provide you with a GPS for navigating the complex and often treacherous journey of change.

‘All the world’s a stage, and we are but players on it.’ –– William Shakespeare. Knowing what to do to manage change is one thing. Knowing how to do it is another. While the route map outlines what you need to do, you have to decide how to do it, in context and with other people. How change plans are executed is always a performance, the artful exercise of influence in time, in space and in conditions that are often not of our choosing. This week you will discover the performances you will have to give, the masks you will be required to wear, the tensions and dilemmas you will encounter, and why influencing yourself is central to your ability to influence others.