How Much More Change Can You Expect?

Are you growing tired of hearing how people on your team or organization report they are "change fatigued" or "changed out"?  Do the same folks bristle at yet another change initiative with body language evoking their obvious displeasure?  I'm talking about rolling eyes, crossing arms, smirks, and other impolite gestures - including the ones targeting you behind your back.  I know, I know...we have to be patient with these folks, but how can we distinguish between resistance and a genuine capacity issue?  How do we really understand what’s going on?

Be The Change

As a leader, you’re usually the one initiating change.  Whether you’ve been with your organization for 11 months or 11 years, you may have noticed how team members and front line staff react at the notion of more change.  If your organization functions as a finely tuned machine, change might even be driven by frontline staff who have become problem solvers and innovators.  But what can you do if your organization is still in transition to becoming a high-performing one? 

Getting your leaders on board and enthusiastic about an improvement or change is the first step and a big part of the process to whatever organizational change you attempt.  Let’s talk about those occasions where, despite the evidence, your leaders just don’t seem keen to ramp up to the right energy level to lead.  This is concerning.  After all, aren’t leaders at all levels expected to motivate staff to embrace continuous improvement opportunities?   I'm always amazed that in a world where every single industry known to humankind is looking for ways in which to improve quality, efficiency, effectiveness, and public satisfaction we still encounter issues at the onset of a change initiative. 

Answer this question: How can you really tell if attitude is getting in the way or if you really should consider waiting to launch a new change?   When the stakes are high, you won’t want to delay an impactful improvement.  However, knowing more about your status can help you determine your timing and strategy.  There are a couple of resources available that you could use to obtain an objective opinion.  Well, maybe not totally objective.  What I’m about to introduce is one tool you can use to evaluate your situation, based on your assessment.

Peter Vaill includes a Change Assessment Inventory in his book, Learning As A Way Of Being (one of my favorites!).  This easy tool consists of 21 short statements against which you are asked to assess your organization’s status vis a vis change.  With this assessment, you rank with positive or negative digits from -3 to +3, and your overall score is the net result of the positive and negative numbers.  What the tool really helps you understand is whether your work environment is becoming more dynamic, changing, unpredictable and turbulent.  A warning before you take the test:   not all the positive results are good.  While this inventory will give you some valuable insight, Vaill also cautions that there could be other factors contributing to a feeling of instability in the organization.  Read this book!  It  is an excellent resource for those of us leading through turbulent and unstable times.   Take the Inventory more than once a year to gauge areas in which where your organization has made gains since the last time you really looked closely.  Have fun with the Assessment, and share your experiences with us here!