How we manage ourselves in change
What does ‘be the change’ really mean?
Change is often seen as binary – you’re either changing or staying the same, your organisation is either running a change/transformation programme or it is static. In this framing, you’re either part of ‘the’ change, or you’re not.
That fails spectacularly to capture that there is no single ‘change’.
And it presents change as a set point to reach, at which point we stop.
Change is an integral part of our everyday lives. And it is complex, constantly evolving and distinctly not binary.
Change is:
tangible yet invisible
both emotional and rational
within us and outside of us
often both enforced upon us and an opportunity
at once individual and systemic and global.
‘Managing’ change
Organisational transformation is often approached as a programme – something that can be scheduled, measured, costed, limited and controlled. By dint of this approach, the expectation is that it moves from static to ‘being changed’ to static again.
But organisations are systems – interrelated systems of people, of relationships and hierarchies, of processes and practices, of customers. And systems are changing all the time – they learn, they adapt, they retreat. They are rarely static.
Managing a transformation or ‘change’ as a programme is of course a useful tool, I lead programmes of change myself.
But as many people will have experienced, the programme – the bits you can envision, design, schedule, deliver and measure – are only part of what happens.
Reflections, behaviour adaptations, emotional realities, hard decisions, intended and unintended consequences, compromises – these are the complex and evolving aspects of change.
So, managing change has to include planning for, reflecting on, and adapting to the reactions, the emotions, the aspirations – the human and individual aspects alongside the structural, procedural, and formal.
And they are fundamental for transformation, which is an evolution – of the organisation and of the individuals within it.
As the ones tasked with visioning, decision-making and role modelling – leaders within organisations often face this demand for tangible evolution first.
'Leading' change
One of the often invisible and under-resourced aspects of ‘managing change’ therefore, is the support, mentoring and capability development needed for leaders. It’s a critical part of any programme of change or transformation.
And one that those of us who are routinely asked to ‘lead change’ know full well is most likely to be under-costed, both in terms of time and the emotional toll it can take.
However, it also bears more long-term fruit than other aspects of formal change programmes.
Trusted and candid relationships, forged during formal change programmes, can illuminate individual growth areas, create space for real reflection and forge fundamentally different dynamics within the workplace.
And that is where a change programme becomes transformative.
In the end, each of us will need to decide how much we will adapt our behaviours, our opinions, our decision-making. Whether that is in relation to where and how we work, how we plan and react to environmental threats, or taking forward the vision and practice of the organisation we work for.
Managing your changes
If you’re considering some adaptations for your work and life and don’t know where to start:
Do you start from where you are now, and where you’ve come from to build forward?
Or do you start from where you want to be in the future and work backwards?
Conventional wisdom might say:
Review what has fuelled you and taken you further in the past, what worked and what didn’t
Think about what you enjoy most now, what brings you most satisfaction or most revenue – you’ll want to retain that and do more of it
Think about what drains you now, what isn’t working, what distracts you – you want to strip out as much of that as you can
Think about where you want to be in the next 3 years, what are the steps to get there
Start…one step at a time, knowing you’re making progress and you’re going in the right direction.
Review regularly.
This method focuses on how to move forward, shifting towards a changed future that is grounded in today.
However, if you start from where you are now, perhaps you are most likely to achieve more of the same. Which might work if you want more of the same…
But what if you want something dramatically different?
Another option might be to:
Think about what or where you want to be in 10 years-time?
Reflect on why – what is it about that that appeals to you so much? It could be the vibe, it could be the recognition, it could be the lifestyle, it could be the work…or a combination
Working back-wards from that point, identify what would need to be in place or have changed in your life to make it a possibility
Pick 2-3 things that would signal to you that you were close to it (these 2-3 things could be a feeling, a skill, a target reached)
When opportunities come up, or when you have ideas, think of them as stepping-stones across a river – from every stone you step on, there are multiple next steps, don’t limit yourself to one route.
This method focuses on what you want in the future, leaving how you get there more open and flexible.