Boost your change management success
What my thesis taught me about managing change and life
It has been a decade since I successfully completed the choppy ride of my doctoral thesis. As I review the study of policy implementation and change management, the obvious lessons are those about how we can do change differently and be more successful at it. Less so are the personal ones and about character. Let’s start with the former.
I chose a thesis that was qualitative as my consulting work at the time was number crunching. I wanted my thesis to be a space for more leadership engagement and practice reflections. A key strength of the study was the large volume of primary data obtained from interviews with senior federal agency officials, policy makers and senior executives. I accept that the study could be viewed as elitist with its focus on the talk of senior officials and executives. Nevertheless, here are some of the insights on navigating change including a framework and message on failing.
A framework for understanding the complexities and ambiguities in change management
The framework is conceptualised as a helicopter with four blades. For the policy implementation or change management initiative to take off and land safely, due consideration must be given to: context, influences, structural complexities and organisational capacity variables.
Although the study examined a developing country context, in a limited manner, I revisit the different blades through the lens of our lived-in peri-pandemic experience.
1. The societal context blade called into question the acceptance, in management studies, of the fixed boundaries of organisations and the separateness of organisations from wider society and the environment.
Recent Covid-19 experience has highlighted the interconnections of business and organisations with wider society. With the emergence of new working from home models and infiltration of 24/7 technology, the boundaries of organisations and and society; and organisational life and our home lives melt away.
The message is that policy implementation or organisational change does not happen in a vacuum. Will your change initiative be taking off in choppy or sunny societal conditions? How do these conditions impact on your implementation or change initiative? What, if anything, can you do to ensure a smoother ride in the conditions?
2. The external influences blade focussed on multi-nation organisations like the EU, global organisations like the WHO, World Bank and United Nations and donor organisations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that may have a say or be funders. For many organisations, a key external influence could be the regulators.
These influencers have the potential to make or break your change initiative or programme. Do you know who your key external influences and stakeholders are? How would you describe their influence, supportive or otherwise? How are you proactively engaging with or managing them?
3. The structural and infrastructural complexities blade highlighted concerns or issues that may restrict organisational capacity.
In the developing country setting studied, the infrastructural issues included having electrical power to keep technology and the business going.However, the Covid-19 experience exposed some of the infrastructure weaknesses of many organisations related to their preparedness and resilience.
In the West, in the absence of these types of infrastructure concerns, we often get caught up in ‘structural’ concerns about the size, scale or pace of the change initiative. These are of a different nature to those in the study.
The structural complexities highlighted in the study were often of an ‘existential’ nature, including the destabilising effects of mergers and de-mergers, with the acquisition or inheritance of workforce from previous organisations; organisations having conflicting and competing roles or functions; and organisations experiencing undue political interference, which limited the scope of their mandates.
No organisation is perfect and there is always room for improvement. What infrastructure or organisation structure issues may restrict your organisation’s ability or capacity to succeed with change initiatives?
4. Finally, the organisational variables blade (acronym STRIDER) of strategic approach and vision, trustworthy leadership and followership, ‘religion’, culture and beliefs about moral conduct (including transparency with regard to transactions), information and knowledge sharing, decision-making, engaging staff, and results associated with a commitment to learning.
Understanding the position of the organisation and its stakeholders on these can help tease out assumptions, create common understanding and avoid misunderstandings or unnecessary complexities as you make strides with your change initiative:
- What level of clarity, if any, is there around the strategy, policy or vision?
- How can leadership and followership be re-orientated to build trust where lacking?
- What role or effect has religion, culture and beliefs about moral conduct? How can you harness these as vehicles for transformational change? How can you highlight the moral aspects of proposed change?
- What internal organisational systems are in place to generate, capture and utilise credible information, both objective and subjective, that supports learning associated with successes and failures?
- What is the prevailing narrative about staff, engaging them and what are the expectations around productivity?
- Would broadening decision-making functions be beneficial and how does that fit in with the prevalent leadership styles?
- In the absence of ‘reliable’ information systems, do you need to have an explicit discussion on the re-ordering or ranking and hierarchy of knowledge based on what is locally available, as this will inform decision-making, baselines and results? The value placed on socially constructed knowledge may require reassessment.
- How can you increase the value placed on results, including the recognition of micro-level successes, and the commitment to learning from these?
The wheel can also be adapted to assess satisfaction level on the variables.
Failures as opportunities for learning
In a context of policy implementation and change management often failing, the study recommended a change of course on perceptions of previous failures and trustworthiness between leaders and followers.
As well identifying gaps in and supporting discussions around organisational capacity, contextual, infrastructure and structural concerns that may contribute to recurring failure, the framework above can also propel managers to make explicit their own beliefs and assumptions about failure, their staff and their own abilities to control their organisations.
Ultimately, the study recommended that failures should be viewed as opportunities for learning.
Value added and limitations
The study combined concepts in management and policy studies. Additionally, elements of culture, religion and ethical values were introduced to further the understanding of policy making, implementation and managing change.
As with much (qualitative) research, I am cautious about how generalisable the findings and learning are. Nevertheless, I hope some of the insights from the study can give an added dimension to how we approach policy implementations and manage change.
Finally, I address my own learning.
Perseverance and loyalty above all else
The completion of my doctoral thesis was bumpy. At every turn there were hurdles, culminating in the department in which I was studying being closed. My supervisor soon secured a promotion to professor in a university I would never have considered, due to its lesser ranking.
I had to choose between remaining at the university that I let me down with entirely new supervisors, finding another university (an alma mater was willing to have me) or moving with my supervisor. My sense of loyalty won. I changed institution and remained with my supervisor at the less prestigious university. It turned out to be the institution I may not have wanted but one that I needed. Graduation day was joyous but I wondered if my hard work and the high standard would ever be truly recognised.
Over the six years it took to complete my studies, there were opportunities to drop out and some people did. However, I made a decision to finish at all cost (including selling off some priced possessions to pay my way). Was it worth it? I don’t know. However, it is difficult to imagine a different path.
When I look at the picture from graduation day placed on my desk, I see a confident, happy scholar who I remain proud of. Perhaps as I embark on the next ten years, I may come to fully grasp the lessons of the thesis. For now, the life lesson on perseverance and loyalty remain as I navigate the trickiest of change initiatives and life.
