In an earlier video,
we discussed Kurt Lewin's change model of unfreezing, changing, refreezing.
As we note from this model,
change is a process.
It goes through stages.
Each stage is important and each requires our time and effort.
Now we will discuss what it takes to effectively tackle each phase of the change process.
John Kotter of the Harvard Business School is
a highly influential writer on Change Management.
His eight step process is clearly inspired by Lewin's pioneering work.
In his framework, Kotter refers to
Lewin's unfreezing as creating a climate for change.
In this phase he includes the steps of: (a) establishing a sense of urgency,
(b) creating a guiding coalition,
and (c) developing a change of vision.
Lewin's next phase of changing is
called engaging and enabling the organization, by Kotter.
This phase includes the steps of: (a) communicating the vision for buy-in,
(b) empowering broad-based actions,
and (c) generating short-term wins.
Finally, the refreezing phase is termed as implementing and sustaining change.
In this phase, Kotter includes the steps of: (a ) never letting
up and (b) incorporating the change into the culture.
In this video, we will discuss Kotter's first phase of creating a climate for change.
To begin with, Kotter emphasizes that change requires both management and leadership.
Management refers to tackling the rational aspects of change,
such as setting the right goals or creating appropriate structures,
roles, systems processes or capabilities.
On the other hand,
leadership is oriented to emotional and relational aspects of change.
For example, aligning people around a common goal or purpose,
motivating and energizing employees,
and obtaining buy-in from relevant stakeholders.
Kotter states that larger the change,
the more leadership is required.
He also adds that organizations and changes suffer
more because they are poorly led even if they are adequately managed.
His eight steps are oriented to leadership challenges.
Kotter states that the first most important and most difficult step in
leading change is establishing a sense of
urgency and maintaining it throughout the change journey.
Often, change leaders wrongly assume that since urgency is clear to them,
it must be clear to others, too.
Let us take an example.
In a tech firm,
a leader wanted her employees to undergo
business training to learn about the business of the client.
She was surprised that despite her thoughtful ideas
and proposals and strong analytical arguments,
there was inertia and indifference to go for business training.
Then, she totally redesigned the launch.
The training was linked to sustainable employability in the future.
And the program was named "Are you ready for the future?"
The messages were put in the language of
the target audience and were linked directly to their concerns.
The powerful stories of derailed executives and star performers that were brought in,
spoke directly to people's feelings and made them see the need for change.
The change initiative took off in a big way.
The program made a huge difference to the unit.
Thus, building a sense of urgency requires
making people aware of external opportunities and hazards.
Sometimes, leaders take advantage of potential crisis or destabilization.
They behave with urgency every day so others see it.
They also communicate in a variety of ways to help people
see that the emerging context requires different response.
As Kotter points out,
we have to appeal to both head and heart,
not only to the head.
Analytical reports and powerpoint presentations may create understanding,
but they don't change behavior.
Successful change is about feeling, not just thinking.
A sense of urgency is the bedrock upon which we build successful change.
We cannot skip or rush this step.
Once we have established a sense of urgency,
the next step is to form a guiding coalition.
We need the right partners to bring about change.
We cannot do it alone.
It is extremely important for partners to have shared goal and mutual trust.
In a recent experience,
to tackle the difficult challenge of downsizing the employee strength in a unit by 10%,
a change team was put together.
Individuals were chosen on the change team for the following qualities.
One, given the wide divergence in management and employee perspectives,
the team included people with strong reputation for fairness and objectivity.
Two, people with the right expertise needed for handling the challenge.
Three, individuals with personal and positional power,
because difficult decisions had to be
made and different constituents had to be convinced.
Kotter states that change team should particularly avoid two types of individuals;
those with big egos and those who create mistrust.
It's an advantage to include individuals who have
volunteered on the basis of their passion and intrinsic motivation.
These are individuals who want to be involved,
not those who feel they have to be involved.
The third step in creating right climate for
change is to develop the right change of vision.
In our earlier example,
we talked about the leader launching the "Are You Ready For The Future?"
program. The change of vision was defined as
making the unit the most sought after for client projects,
to maintain the significance and centrality.
In the changed business context,
the vision had a huge intrinsic appeal.
It motivated the employees to invest in learning client business.
Sometimes we make the mistake of expressing
the vision in terms of profits and end results.
It is important to highlight the larger purpose for which we are working.
This needs careful thought.
The vision should (a) appeal to people's hearts, (b) achievable,
(c) specific, (d) easy to communicate,
and (e) flexible to adapt to changing conditions.
After clarifying the vision,
we should translate it into specific initiatives and
role assignments so that actions of the ground level are clear and congruent.
Creating the right climate for change is an extremely important part of change.
It is a kin to laying the foundation for change.
Kotter's framework gives us clear action points on what is required.
We will examine the rest of the Kotter steps in the next video.
M Rammohan RaoProfessor Emeritus
Ramnarayan SubramaniamClinical Professor
Deepa ManiAssociate Professor and Executive Director, Srini Raju Centre for IT and the Networked Economy
Sudhir VoletiAssistant Professor and ISB Research Fellow
Ramabhadran ThirumalaiAssistant Professor
