I recently gave a talk to the leadership team of an MNC on organizational change management. Here is the presentation material from it. The idea was to expose them to some nuances of organizational change and bring some practical insights from my own personal and professional experiences. The topic of the talk is based on the latest craze in India - the kolaveri song. It represents a significant 'change' for anyone in the music or online industry and should make everyone sit up and take notice of what 'change' can do to them!

1. Why this
Kolaveri
Kolaveri
Kolaveri
di?
Tathagat Varma
http://managewell.net

2. Why Change? “I can’t understand why
people are frightened of
new ideas. I am
frightened of the old
ones”.
- John Cage

3. " Change is risky
The Myths around Change " Change is costly
" Change is a threat
" Change is an event
" Change is absolute
" Change is an option
" Change is disruptive
" Change is end of life
" Change is a constraint
" Change is an aberration
" Change slows things down
" Change cannot be ‘predicted’

4. " Change protects us against obsolescence!
The Reality " Change is the new normal
" Change makes us better
" Change creates options
" Change is an enabler
" Change is a process
" Change is progress
" Change is creative
" Change is relative
" Change is rebirth
" Change is safe!

5. Change in quotes " We all have big changes in our lives that
are more or less a second chance –
Harrison Ford
" If you don’t like change, you’re going to
like irrelevance even less – General Eric
Shinseki
" Change brings opportunity – Nido Qubein
" It is not necessary to change. Survival is
not mandatory – W Edwards Deming
" The bamboo that bends is stronger than the
oak that resists – Japanese Proverb

7. What just happened?

8. " The tendency of most complex systems to reach
Homeostasis a state of equilibrium. The sense of balance that
comes from operating in a stable environment is
seductive. It masquerades as comfort. But it also
leads to inertia – a powerful and limiting force.
" Even the most talented and well-intended
individuals, if they are enveloped by the
contentment of the status quo, don’t generally
recognize their condition – or the ensuing risks
that stagnation presented to their businesses.
Management scholars and consultants label the
phenomenon “resistance to change”…

10. Change Models and Tools " Lewin Force-Field Analysis
" Flow Zone
" Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle
" Transitions
" Satir Change Model
" ADKAR
" Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership
" Kotter’s Eight Step Model

11. Lewin Force-field Analysis

12. “Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze”

13. " Burning Platform: Expose or create a crisis.
Unfreezing Techniques " Challenge: Inspire them to achieve remarkable things.
" Command: Just tell them to move!
" Evidence: Cold, hard data is difficult to ignore.
" Destabilizing: Shaking people of their comfort zone.
" Education: Learn them to change.
" Management by Objectives (MBO): Tell people what to do, but not
how.
" Restructuring: Redesign the organization to force behavior change.
" Rites of Passage: Hold a wake to help let go of the past.
" Setting Goals: Give them a formal objective.
" Visioning: Done well, visions work to create change.
" Whole-System Planning: Everyone planning together.

14. " Boiling the Frog: Incremental changes may well not be noticed.
Transitioning Techniques "
"
Challenge: Inspire them to achieve remarkable things.
Coaching: Psychological support for executives.
" Command: Tell them what to do.
" Education: Teach them, one step at a time.
" Facilitation: Use a facilitator to guide team meetings.
" First Steps: Make it easy to get going.
" Involvement: Give them an important role.
" Management by Objectives (MBO): Tell people what to do, but not how.
" Open Space: People talking about what concerns them.
" Re-education: Train the people you have in new knowledge/skills.
" Restructuring: Redesign the organization to force behavior change.
" Shift-and-Sync: Change a bit then pause restabilize.
" Spill and Fill: Incremental movement to a new organization.
" Stepwise Change: breaking things down into smaller packages.
" Whole-System Planning: Everyone planning together.

15. Burning Bridges: Ensure there is no way back.
Refreezing Techniques
"
" Evidence Stream: Show them time and again that the change is
real.
" Golden Handcuffs: Put rewards in their middle-term future.
" Institutionalization: Building change into the formal systems
and structures.
" New Challenge: Get them looking to the future.
" Rationalization Trap: Get them into action then help them
explain their actions.
" Reward Alignment: Align rewards with desired behaviors.
" Rites of Passage: Use formal rituals to confirm change.
" Socializing: Build it into the social fabric.

16. " Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous
Flow Zone investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that
what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state
of consciousness called flow. During flow, people
typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a
total involvement with life.

17. Mental States

18. " Csíkszentmihályi identifies the following ten factors as accompanying
Components of Flow an experience of flow [3][4]
" Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable
and align appropriately with one's skill set and abilities). Moreover, the
challenge level and skill level should both be high.[5]
" Concentrating, a high degree of concentration on a limited field
of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to
focus and to delve deeply into it).
" A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action
and awareness.
" Distorted sense of time, one's subjective experience of time is altered.
" Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the
activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).
" Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy
nor too difficult).
" A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
" The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.
" A lack of awareness of bodily needs (to the extent that one can reach a point
of great hunger or fatigue without realizing it)
" Absorption into the activity, narrowing of the focus of awareness down to
the activity itself, action awareness merging.
" Not all are needed for flow to be experienced.

19. " One cannot force oneself to enter flow. It just happens. A
Conditions for Flow flow state can be entered while performing any activity,
although it is most likely to occur when one is
wholeheartedly performing a task or activity for intrinsic
purposes.[7][8]
" There are three conditions that are necessary to achieve
the flow state:
" One must be involved in an activity with a clear set of
goals. This adds direction and structure to the task.[9]
" One must have a good balance between
the perceived challenges of the task at hand and his or her
own perceived skills. One must have confidence that he or
she is capable to do the task at hand.[9]
" The task at hand must have clear and immediate feedback.
This helps the person negotiate any changing demands and
allows him or her to adjust his or her performance to
maintain the flow state.[9]

20. Shock stage*: Initial paralysis at hearing the bad news.
Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle
"
" Denial stage: Trying to avoid the inevitable.
" Anger stage: Frustrated outpouring of bottled-up emotion.
" Bargaining stage: Seeking in vain for a way out.
" Depression stage: Final realization of the inevitable.
" Testing stage*: Seeking realistic solutions.
" Acceptance stage: Finally finding the way forward.

21. The stages of transition were first recognised in the 60’s in studies of
Transitions
"
bereavement. In the 70’s it was realised that this process may be
triggered by any major life event, good or bad, in work as well as
personal life eg in a new job or after redundancy. The same process
also accounts for the "survivor syndrome" – loss of morale in
organisations a few months after large scale changes eg re-
organisations, redundancies or take-overs.

22. Satir Change Model

23. How to help during each stage Stage Description
1 Late Status Quo
How to help
Encourage people to seek improvement
information and concepts from outside the
group
2 Resistance Help people to open up, become more aware,
and overcome the reaction to deny, avoid or
blame
3 Chaos Help build a safe environment that enables
people to focus on their feelings,
acknowledge their fear, and use their support
systems. Help management avoid any attempt
to short circuit this stage with magical
solutions
4 Integration Offer reassurance and help finding new
methods for coping with difficulties
5 New Status Quo Help people feel safe so that they can practice

24. " ADKAR Change Management Model proposed by Jeff
ADKAR Model Hiatt and Timothy J. Creasey in “The Perfect Change”
" It characterizes the process for individual change in 5 key
steps:
" Awareness of the need to change
" Desire to participate and support the change
" Knowledge about how to change
" Ability to implement new skills and behavior
" Reinforcements to keep the change in place

25. Individual Change Process " The time it takes for each individual to go through similar
change could be different
" Hence, change management models can’t treat the
organization as a homogeneous mass of people going
through the change process at the same time
A Awareness Desire Knowledge Ability Reinforcement
B Awareness Desire Knowledge Ability Reinforcement
Time

26. " In a large organization, people might not find out about
Organizational Change Process change at the same time!

27. " Change happens on two dimensions: business and people
Successful Change
" Business Dimension:
" Business need or opportunity is identified
" Project is defined (scope and objectives)
" Business solution is designed (new processes, systems and
org structure)
" New processes and systems are developed
" Solution is implemented into the organization
" Successful change happens when both happen
simultaneously

28. Situational Leadership Model

29. The Eight Step Process of Successful
Change
" Kotter’s Eight-Step Model
" Set the Stage
" Decide What to Do
" Make it Happen
" Make it Stick

30. " Create a Sense of Urgency
Set the Stage " Help others see the need for change and the importance of
acting immediately
" Pull Together the Guiding Team
" Make sure there is a powerful group guiding the change –
one with leadership skills, credibility, communications
ability, authority, analytical skills, and a sense of urgency

31. " Develop the Change Vision and Strategy
Decide What to Do " Clarify how the future will be different from the past, and
how you can make that future a reality

32. " Communicate for Understanding and Buy-In
Make it Happen " Make sure as many others as possible understand and
accept the vision and the strategy
" Empower Others to Act
" Remove as many barriers as possible so that those who
want to make the vision a reality can do so
" Produce Short-Term Wins
" Create some visibly, unambiguous successes as soon as
possible
" Don’t Let Up
" Press harder and faster after the first successes. Be
relentless with initiating change after change until the
vision is a reality

33. " Create a New Culture
Make it Stick " Hold on to the new ways of behaving, and make sure they
succeed, until they become strong enough to replace old
traditions

34. Role of Thinking " Thinking differently can help change
behavior and lead to better results
" Collect data, analyze it
" Present the information logically to change
people’s thinking
" Changed thinking, in turn, can change
behavior

35. " Feeling differently can change behavior MORE
Role of Feeling and lead to even better results
" Create surprising, compelling, and, is possible visual
experiences
" The experiences change how people feel about a
situation
" A change in feelings can lead to a significant change
in behavior

36. " Persuasion is widely perceived as a skills reserved for
Persuasion selling products and closing deals. It is also commonly
seen as just another form of manipulation – devious and
to be avoided
" Persuasion does indeed involve moving people to a
position they don’t currently hold, but not by begging or
cajoling. Instead, it involves careful preparation, the
proper framing of arguments, the presentation of vivid
supporting evidence, and the effort to find the correct
emotional match with your audience.
" Effective persuasion is about testing and revising ideas in
concert with your colleagues’ concerns and needs.

37. " Establish credibility
Effective Persuasion " Credibility is the cornerstone of effective persuasion
" Frame for common ground
" Identify shared benefits
" Provide Evidence
" Most effective persuaders supplement numerical data with
examples, stories, metaphors, and analogies to make their
positions come alive
" Listeners absorb information in proportion to its vividness
" Connect Emotionally
" The best persuaders usually canvass key individuals who have a
good pulse on the mood and emotional expectations of those
about to be persuaded. They would ask those individuals how
various proposals might affect colleagues on an emotional level
– in essence, testing possible reactions.

38. Key Ingrediants for Successful " Blanchard’s Who Killed Change
Change " Culture
" Commitment
" Sponsorship
" Change Leadership Team
" Communication
" Urgency
" Vision
" Plan
" Budget
" Trainer
" Incentive
" Performance Management
" Accountability

39. " Culture is defined as the predominant attitudes, beliefs
1. Culture and behavior patterns that characterize the organization.
The role of culture is critical throughout the change
process. Culture has the power to either enable and
sustain the change, or bury it. To align the culture to a
change, you should:
" Determine how you can leverage the current culture to
support, enable and sustain the change
" Use sponsorship, accountability and incentive to reinforce
the culture required to enable and sustain the change
" Determine where the current culture is not aligned with the
proposed change, and what actions are required to align
the culture with the change

40. " Commitment describes a person’s motivation and
2. Commitment confidence to engage in the new behaviors required by
the change initiative. To increase people’s commitment to
a change, you should:
" Provide forums for people to express their questions and
concerns and then respond to them
" Expand opportunities to increase the involvement and
influence of those being asked to change. This produces
long-term, sustainable commitment to a new way of doing
business, rather than short-term compliance
" Purposefully orchestrate opportunities for advocates of the
change to contact those who have yet to make up their
mind about the change

41. " A sponsor is a senior leader who has the formal authority
3. Sponsorship to deploy resources toward the initiation, implementation
and sustainability of a change initiative. An effective
change sponsor should:
" Select and align a well-qualified leadership team to lead
the change on a day-to-day basis
" Get commitment and secure buy-in for change by
surfacing and addressing concerns and involving those
being asked to change in the decision-making process
" Model the behaviors expected of others, remembering that
actions speak louder than words
" Create incentive by recognizing and reinforcing the
behaviors consistent with the change
" Foster accountability by showing the organization that
leadership is serious about the change

42. " The change leadership team is a group of leaders with day-to-
4. Change Leadership Team day responsibility for executing a variety of change leadership
strategies to lead people through change and deliver the
business outcomes of the change initiatives. This team should
include people who:
" Have been part of successful change efforts
" Can allocate the time required
" Have the respect of their peers
" Are highly skilled
" Are willing to speak truth to power
" Are effective communicators
" Represent diverse viewpoints, including different areas and level
so the organization as well as advocates, informal leaders and
resisters
" It is important that the change leadership team communicates
consistently about the change, regardless of who is
communicating

43. " The importance of effective communication to the
5. Communication success of a change initiative can’t be underestimated.
Effective change communication is:
" Focused on creating dialog – not one-way communication
– with change leaders and those being asked to change
" Frequent and orchestrated via many different kinds of
media – a good rule of thumb is at least seven times and
seven different ways
" Consistent in its message, regardless of who is
communicating
" Delivered by credible, respected sponsors, aligned
leadership team members and advocates for the change

44. " Urgency explains why the change is needed and how
6. Urgency quickly people must change the way they work. If people
do not have a sense of urgency regarding the need to
change, the inertia of the status quo will likely prove too
strong and people will not make the changes you are
seeking. The following methods can be used to create a
sense of urgency among those being asked to change:
" Being people face-to-face with the reality of the situation.
Share lots of information and involve them in identifying
the gap between what is and what could be.
" Provide credible, believable reasons to change, answering
the question “What is wrong with the way things are
now?”. Develop a shared spirit of discontent with the
status quo.
" frame the change in terms of a cause that is motivating.

45. " For those being asked to change, a clear and compelling
7. Vision vision allows them to see themselves succeeding in the
picture of the future. Vision should:
" Work with urgency to break the inertia of the status quo.
" Go beyond a slogan and present a clear picture of what the
future looks like when the change is successfully
implemented.
" Get many people involved in the visioning process so
there is ownership beyond the aligned leadership team.
" Allow people to see themselves succeeding in the picture
of the future.

46. " The change implementation plan is important, but the planning
8. Plan process is even more important. An effective planning process:
" Includes people who are being asked to change, especially
resisters who can anticipate what could go wrong.
" Provides enough details for support people on the front line to
get going.
" Clarifies priorities.
" Defines the metrics so you will know if you have been
successful.
" Includes pilots using early adopters who are willing to tackle the
challenge of making the change work.
" Prepares for the need to have “quick wins” to sway those people
who are undecided about whether to support the change.
" Develops the right infrastructure to support the change and
ensures that you don’t skimp on investments in infrastructure.

47. " No change initiative can be successful without spending
9. Budget money. That being said, it is important to analyze
proposed changes from a financial perspective to
determine how best to allocate limited resources and
ensure a healthy ROI. Remember these important points
regarding the budget:
" Sponsors control the budget, not the other way round.
Ensure that your sponsors clearly buy in to the business
case for the change or the budget will overwhelm them at
the first sign of trouble with the change.
" Make sure you don’t skimp on investments in
infrastructure.
" Ensure that you leverage low-cost methods of generating
buy-in (e.g., leaders who walk the talk and reinforce
desired behaviors; advocates for the change who are in
frequent conversations with those who are undecided).

48. " A change trainer provides learning experiences to ensure
10. Trainer that those being asked to change have the skills needed to
execute the change and succeed in the future
organization. An effective change trainer should be a able
and willing to:
" Look at a situation and assess the concerns of the people
who are being asked to change.
" Comfortably use a variety of change leadership strategies.
" Partner with the people who are being asked to change so
that they can voice their concerns, influence the change
process and increase their commitment to the change.
" Diagnose the development needs of a team member on a
specific goal or task and provide the necessary direction
and/or support to meet those needs (i.e., be a situational
leader).

49. " Incentive reinforces the desired behaviors and results that
11. Incentive enable the change. Many people confuse incentives with
monetary rewards. Numerous research studies have
shown that well-deserved recognition often goes further
towards reinforcing desired behaviors than monetary
rewards. Effective incentives:
" Are aligned with the desired behaviors and performance
that the change seeks to address.
" Are individualized and available to more than just a
handful of people
" Don’t over-incentivize the adoption of change at the
expense of people’s other important performance goals
that are unrelated to the change.

50. " Performance management is the process that sets goals
12. Performance Management and expectations regarding the behaviors and results that
will enable change. The performance management
process:
" Includes tracking progress toward the goals and
expectations.
" Provides feedback and coaching.
" Formally documents actual results versus desired results.

51. " Accountability is the process of following through with people
13. Accountability to ensure their behaviors and results are in line with agreed
upon goals and expectations. It ensures that leaders are
walking the talk by creating consequences when behaviors or
results are inconsistent with those that enable change.
Accountability is a must for change to have a chance to
succeed. Hallmarks of effective accountability are:
" Clearly defined measures of success – goals that are SMART
" Regular meetings to check progress and plan actions to keep the
change on track.
" Two-way accountability – partnering for performance between
leader and team member, with each party accountable to the
other.
" No favoritism. Everyone is held accountable – senior leaders,
managers and the front line. Remember, what leaders do is twice
as important as what they say, and what leaders reinforce is three
times as important as what they say.

52. " “People process change on two levels: on a rational/
Preparing People for Change intellectual level and on an emotional level. You must
appeal to and address both”. (Leading Innovation, pg 67)
" Make Change personal. No matter how widespread or far-
reaching the need for organizational change, making it
happen ultimately comes down to individuals.
" Involve people early and often
" Clearly define the driving forces for the change
" Clarify a future state
" Take time to process the emotional reactions to change
" Engage resistance!

53. The Biggest Mistakes in Managing " Not understanding the importance of people
Change " Not appreciating that people throughout the organization have
different reactions to change
" Treating transformation as an event, rather than a mental,
physical and emotional process
" Being less than candid
" Not appropriately setting the stage for change
" Trying to management transformation with the same strategies
used for incremental change
" Forgetting to negotiate the new ‘compact’ between employers
and employees
" Believiing that change-communication was what employees
heard from corporate headquarters
" Underestimating human potential

54. " If you always do what you’ve always done, you will
Conclusions always get what you’ve always got!
" Change is inevitable, but it presents a great opportunity to
grow stronger, better and faster
" Successfully leading yourself and your teams through
change requires a fine understanding of motivational
issues and persisting through the change process
" “Paradoxically, organizations and people are least likely
to change when they are in the best position to do so. The
impetus for change is rarely great enough to overcome
the inertia of the status quo until people and organizations
hit a crisis.” (Leading Innovation, pg66)

55. " Embrace Change, Your Life Depends on it – Dave Cheong
References " Transitions: Managing Personal and Organizational Change – Dai
Williams
" The Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change – Carol Kinsey Goman
" Change Management – the People Side of Change – Jeff Hiatt and
Timothy J. Creasey
" ADKAR – A model for Change Management
" Managing Change – a guide on how to manage change in an
organization
" The Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change – Carol Kinsey Goman
" The necessary art of Persuasion – Jay A. Conger, HBR Classics
" Who Killed Change? – Ken Blanchard, John Britt, Pat Zigarm, Judd
Hoekstra
" Lewin’s Freeze Phases

56. The Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle
References
"
" The Satir Change Model
" Situational Leadership in Software Teams
" Leading Innovation – Brian McDermott and Gerry
Sexton

57. Questions?
Twitter: @tathagatvarma
Blog: http://managewell.net
Email: tathagat.varma@gmail.com
Presentations: http://slideshare.net/managewell