Crash Course in Change Management

In John Kotter’s 1996 research he revealed that only 30 percent of change programs succeed. In 2010, a McKinsey survey of 1,500 executives found that still about only one in three transformations succeed.

I posted earlier this year that Accenture had found successful organizational transformations were getting closer to 50%, which is still far too low, and in my mind stems from a lack of focus on the people issues that underlie change. I believe people are not inherently against change, but rather against change when they don’t understand it, or how it will impact their lives. This crash course in change management combines a summary of my favourite methods from a variety of change management systems that I feel they enhance each other when combined. So, for your consideration, here is my crash course in change management, combining ADKAR, David Rock’s Neuroleadership principles, and information from some other articles I’ve always liked.

The foundation for my theory on change management is one of the most prevalent change management frameworks in use – ADKAR. The ADKAR system is a series of steps that must be met in sequence for any change to be successfully implemented and stay. The steps are:

  • Awareness - Step one is making all stakeholders aware of the need to for change, why it is needed and the risks of not changing.
  • Desire – Desire represents the motivation, and decision of the individuals involved to support and participate in the change. A common mistake by change leaders is they think that by generating awareness they have created a desire to change.
  • Knowledge – Knowledge is how to change. Teaching individuals the technical skills required for new processes, or how new systems will work.
  • Ability – The capability of the individuals to implement the new knowledge.
  • Reinforcement – Any event or action which strengthens or reinforces the change within the individual or organization.

While this system is nearly ideal, I feel that adding other methodologies to the overall process can greatly improve the effectiveness of the change effort. The most important addition is using David Rock’s S-C-A-R-F principles. Rock’s method examined the most basic reaction in the human brain to any situation – threat or reward. Whenever a human is presented with a new experience the mind determines whether it is a threat or a reward (this can be measured by researchers with fMRI or EEG machines). Research identified five key qualities which enable employees and executives to minimize the threat response, and activate the reward response. These are:

  • Status - Our social status, if a change lowers social status it triggers a threat response.
  • Certainty – The human brain likes familiar situations, as they allow it to conserve energy (it takes lots of energy to fuse a new neural pathway). This allows the brain to run on autopilot, but when a situation changes it requires the brain to focus on the immediate task and change.
  • Autonomy – The degree to which an individual can adapt or control either their environment, or their responses to the environment. When people can make their own choices, the feeling of certainty increases and reduces stress.
  • Relatedness – Healthy relationships are caused by trust and empathy. The human brain groups others as friend or foe. When a person is considered different (foe) the brain generates feelings of being uncomfortable, which triggers a threat response and makes people unlikely to accept the change.
  • Fairness – The perception of unfairness generates hostility, and undermines trust. The important key is that it is a perception of fairness. Unfairness in an environment prevents collaboration and trust, which are integral to successful change management.

SCARF is critically important to the success of communication during change management because before the human brain can accept rational plans, it needs to accept the change emotionally.  Click the image below to enlarge, or download the PDF at the end of the article if you’d like.

Lastly by By evaluating SCARF at each step, we can ensure individuals remain open to the rational steps and points of ADKAR. The inclusion of the additional best practices continues to improve the likelihood of a successful change management initiative. The last component to improving the odds of a successful change is a constant review of the ADKAR steps (how aware are the individuals of the change, what is their level of desire etc.).

If you’ve found this useful and would like to read more on the various principles covered in this article I suggest reading the following books/articles. As well, I have included a link to a PDF of my change phases chart here.

Additional Reading:

Some articles may require free registration.

Tyler Totman

twitter: @FAPhoenix

https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Organization/Change_Management/The_irrational_side_of_change_management_2335