There is no getting around change. It happens every day in every type of organization.—Britt Andreatta, Ph.D, author
Change in the workplace. It’s inevitable, so as leaders, what are we doing to reduce the failure rate? Studies show that 50 – 75% of change results in failure, either initially (it is never successfully launched), or that it does not sustain itself due to lack of buy-in across the organization.
Dr. Britt Andreatti, writes about how our brains must be harnessed to help us drive and thrive through change, and has identified 5 types of change in the workplace.
5 Types Of Change – excerpts from WIRED TO RESIST by Britt Andreatta
- Strategic – how the organization will fulfill its mission
- Structural – the organization’s internal set-up
- Process – how the organization maximizes productivity and workflow
- Talent – maximizing employee skill and performance
- Cultural – shifting attitudes, values, and behaviors
It’s probably no surprise that the ability to change the mind-set of our people is the most difficult. If we don’t get them on-board, and if they do not support the new vision and core values (or perhaps don’t understand or know HOW to support it), success is unlikely.
Dr. Andreatta feels there are 4 key factors that influence success rates: Disruption, Acclimation, Choice, Desire
As leaders we need to assess the amount of disruption and the time required for acclimation. We can label them as:
ORANGE – A lot of effort but over quickly
GREEN – Little effort and over quickly
YELLOW – Little effort over a long period
RED – A lot of effort over a long period
Take time to review the level of disruption for each change as that will help with realistic time expectations for acceptance. Equally important is assessing if the change was a choice or a mandate, and whether it was viewed as desirable.
Dr. Andreatta states that humans are “biologically wired to resist change”, and as leaders we MUST acknowledge and manage the emotions of the change curve (shock, denial, anger and fear) before we can expect acceptance and commitment.
As leaders, our challenge it to erase the equation that CHANGE=DANGER. Are you prepared?
QWIKTIPS –
Click to read about GROWTH, CHANGE, STRESS
Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better. Bill Bradley