Our family loves water parks, and one of our favorites is in the Wisconsin Dells at a place called Noah’s Ark. They have a 10-story high waterslide there called The Point Of No Return, and after you’ve ridden it a time or two, you know exactly why.
The ride starts with a 40-meter vertical drop, followed by a run out at the bottom where the water becomes a hydro break. Once you sit on your mat and tip forward over the edge, you’re committed. Twelve seconds later, the adrenaline surge will make you euphoric.
Believe it or not, this experience of riding a waterslide has a lot in common with the experience of implementing organizational change.
Phase 1: The Pre-Work
The honeymoon period in any organizational change is always the pre-work. This is much like sitting on the edge of the slide before you take your trip. There is much conference room work, the walls are covered with flip charts and changes take shape in the collective minds of the change leaders.
During this phase, massive PowerPoints are constructed, dialogue is sought from all the stakeholders and a plan is hammered out. The change itself is rehearsed in the minds of everyone involved, all the while contingencies are discussed and plans refined. Small-scale beta runs are made and feedback is rolled back into your plans.
Phase 2: Implementation
As the implementation time comes, there is a mix of tenuous excitement–much like dangling your legs over the edge. When you go to large-scale implementation, it’s very much like beginning your run on the slide – you are all in. When adversity comes up (and it always does) your planning will be gold. Keeping a clear focus on your endpoint will allow you to keep momentum and minimize being sidetracked and disoriented.
If this is your first change program, you’ll be surprised at just how unhinged everyone gets, even those who know it will be a better world once the change takes place. This “weightless zone,” when transitioning from the old to the new, can be surprising and disconcerting to the newly minted change leader. This power shift creates bifurcation and instability because every change produces new leaders and followers, and any change in influence is always perceived as a loss.
Phase 3: The Aftermath
Once the change is in place for a period of time, the design team can begin to relax and do the after action review. A common error is to underestimate just how long it takes to get to the new normal. In fact, it’s not uncommon for a large process change to take 12 months of consistent reinforcement.
This period is when the benefits begin to accrue, whether it’s better quality, more efficiency or improved customer experience. It’s also when the euphoria begins to set in.
At this point it’s time to grab your mat, hike up to the top of the platform and do it all over again…
As you prepare for an organizational change, keep in mind these key points:
- The first question that you need to answer fully and completely is what if this change work was not done at all? Making careful note of what the real impact will be in measurable ways is the key to laying the foundational business case that the change pivots on. It goes without saying, but if the answer to this question is not a significant outcome (something like 2x base performance), then you should stop and not pass go.
- The clarity of your plan needs to be inversely proportional to the number of people it will affect. If it affects a large organization, it needs to be crystal clear. If it’s a smaller team, some fuzziness can be worked through.
- The path needs to be planned as thoroughly as the destination. The best plans have early successes programmed into them to provide momentum. These “small wins” are very important both symbolically and practically. Symbolically, they give you a positive narrative, and practically, they allow the participants to begin moving from victory to victory, making the inevitable setbacks more palatable.
- Do not leave the gate without the executive sponsorship needed to see the program through. Resistance will arise in the form of people who are invested in the existing system, and they will be vocal, drill holes in the boat, kick, scream and go around, over and through you. You need to have an airtight plan that your management team has bought into so that everyone on the management board can deal with resistance in an integrated and holistic way.
- If you govern your own energy level by feelings, you’re in trouble. Every good change program I’ve been involved with feels like a disaster in the middle. Once the point of no return has passed, you’re in a foreign land until the new benchmarks kick in and you can see positive momentum. There will be a time when you and your team will only be able to use your map to keep going. Your feelings will not take you in the right direction. It is then you will appreciate the clarity of your goal, and any momentum you have built up in the meantime.
Changing organizations is hard work, but allowing organizations to drift into mediocrity is leadership malpractice. Have courage, build great plans and move your organization forward – just don’t forget the map.
