Inflicting Type III Change
(4th and last in the "The 3 Shades of Change")
Peter de Jager is a provocative Speaker, Writer and Consultant. His primary focus in on how we manage change, technology and the future.
In addition to speaking at conferences worldwide, he also writes monthly columns for CIO Magazine and Computerworld Canada.
His goal is always to question what we think is so, and in so doing perhaps open up new opportunities.
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Type I - Change which is done to us.
Type II - Change which we do to ourselves.
Type III - Change which we do to others.
This is the crux of Change issue for management; "How do we inflict Change on others and get them to embrace the new and let go of the old?"
The word 'inflict' in the title, was deliberately chosen after careful consideration. It is a distinctly negative word, bringing to mind all sorts of nasty accidents with sharp objects. Why use such an emotionally charged word? Because it serves as a strong reminder that Type III Change, is also Type I Change. It is "Change which is done to us!" from their perspective.
Any manager, who loses sight of the above observation, transforms the Change process from something which is difficult enough on its own, to something even more challenging.
The trick, or 'strategy' if you prefer, is to realize that if you concluded that Change is necessary, then it is nearly always possible for others to arrive at the same conclusion. Providing of course, they are given the same information you used when you decided Change was necessary. With this approach, it is possible to shift their 'Type I' Change into the universally more acceptable 'Type II' Change.
While this strategy is NOT always possible, every time it is possible, we convert a difficult process into a simpler one.
When is it possible? Far more often than one might expect, but it does require a shift to how we think of management's role.
If we believe it is management's responsibility, and theirs alone, to make decisions and to implement them, then we encounter a world where people nearly always 'Resist Change', as in 'They resist being Changed'.
On the other hand, if instead we see management's role as that of getting others to make particular decisions, and to create environments where it is easier for them to implement those decisions, then Change becomes easier. The 'Resistance to Change' we encounter in this new situation is more in response to the difficulties of letting go of old habits, and the pain of learning something new, rather than to the Change itself.
This shift in thinking isn't a trivial exercise. Some managers rebel against the notion that employees can, or should, make decisions. They consider those decisions the exclusive domain of management, and are much more comfortable telling people what to do, rather than having them decide it is necessary.
There is a common belief that this type of employee empowerment takes too long, it is just easier and quicker to tell people what you want, rather than having them figure it out for themselves.
The problem is, while it is certainly quicker to tell people what to do, that time savings is all for naught, if they resist doing it. On the other hand, when people decide that something needs doing, it is almost impossible to stop them from doing it. "Resistance to Change" is not an issue, when they decide it's time to Change.
This series started out with the intent of creating a distinction between different types of Change more useful than large/small, easy/difficult. In the end there are only two types of Change... That which we do to ourselves, and enforced Change, which like a coin, has two inseparable sides; "Change we do to others"/"Change done to us".
In the end, the best type of Change is that which we decide to embrace on our own, and management's challenge, which requires innovation, clever thinking and a dose of luck, is to funnel all Change into that single category. This is a difficult objective, but not an impossible one if we're willing to Change our own style of management.
© 2005, Peter de Jager –
Peter is passionate about change, how it affects both individuals and
organizations and allows them to grow and prosper. To contact him, and
host internal seminars on Change Management visit www.technobility.com
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