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Changing Culture & Managing Change
| Bringing about significant change in the way an organization works, frequently necessary in our current environment of major technological innovation and globalization, is a tremendous challenge. On the technical side, it may be relatively easy (although costly) to introduce new technology, work processes and structures. Experience tells us, however, that getting people to enthusiastically support such change is a more complex and difficult task. The Myth of Resistance Understanding why change is frequently difficult for people can help us build in methods for easing the process and increasing the likelihood that it will succeed. Many people talk about "resistance" as if it were an irrational response to be overcome with rational persuasion. In fact, it is always the case that, from an individual's point of view, one's own behavior is rational. Generally, when people have worked in an organization for very long, they have absorbed a set of norms and expectations about what is expected, what is rewarded and what is least approved. They have "learned" the way to behave that will, at the very least, keep them out of trouble. This set of widely shared beliefs about what is "right" and "wrong", "true" or "false", "good" or "bad", is the organization's culture. What Is Organizational Culture? An organization's culture is multi-layered, consisting of assumptions, values, beliefs, norms and behaviors that have developed gradually and may have become relatively unconscious. It can explain much about how an organization functions, both internally and in relation to its external environment. When there is a need to change the way an organization works, it may become necessary to make this implicit set of beliefs explicit as they may no longer be consistent with the actions and behaviors that are now required. Managing Change Whether or not it is possible to fully "manage change", we believe that being very clear about what changes are required and being very intentional about building a culture that supports the new mission, goals, strategies and practices increases the probability of success exponentially. This necessarily involves a large cross section of the organization in assessing the current system of norms and beliefs, determining what changes are needed, and designing an implementation plan. An Example of "Managed" Culture Change A classic example involves a regulated utility for which de-regulation meant a change in how they do business. Assumptions about customer expectations in a regulated environment led utilities in general to attend more to being a "good neighbor" than to providing low cost service. Those assumptions often meant that "good neighbor" behavior, i.e., courtesy to customers, was rewarded more than efficiency and this value was reinforced by training programs, performance reviews, and the company newspaper along with more subtle forms of communication. These beliefs and resulting behaviors needed to be elevated to a conscious level so that the company could choose how it needed to modify its practices. New assumptions and values were articulated and systematically communicated through every vehicle and reinforced at every opportunity. (One would hope that the utility would not throw out the original intent to be a good neighbor, but only reassign priorities.) As people at every level of the organization participated in meetings and activities to identify new goals and practices, they also created inventories of all the old ways of thinking and doing that would have to change. They actually developed a humorous system for "catching" each other in the old ways and rewarding the new. In this way, what might have become the source of serious resistance became a source of comraderie and com mitment to the new way of doing business. |
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