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Managing Barriers to Business Reengineering Success

by Wolf D. Schumacher

CHAPTER 4

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

INTERVENTION MODELS

Any single change in the existing system affects all parts

of the system; a complex change, such as may be needed

to meet competitive challenges, has virtually unlimited ramifications.

Any program that seeks to introduce change into an organization

will fail if it is not grounded in this systemwide

view of the organization.

Mink/Esterhuysen/Mink/Owen, Change at Work, 1993

4.1. Change Management Interventions

Change involves moving from the known to the unknown (Cummins/Worley, 1993). Because the future is uncertain and may adversely affect people`s competencies, worth, and coping abilities, organizational members generally do not support change, unless compelling reasons convince them to do so. Similarly, organizations tend to be heavily invested in the status quo, and they resist changing it in the face of uncertain future benefits. Consequently, a key issue in planning for action is how to motivate commitment to organizational change, such as Business Reengineering. This requires management attention to two related tasks: creating readiness for change and overcoming resistance to change. Change Management focuses on these two tasks by proposing, designing and subsequently executing effective interventions at individual, group, organizational and environmental levels. It should not be overlooked, though, that the environment often is more powerful than the organization itself, while the psyche, the most personal category, is too deep-seated to external change initiatives. All other categories between these macro and micro aspects are directly controllable by managers and consultants (Kilman, 1988).

Interventions refer to a set of planned change activities performed by internal or external people, intended to help an organization increase its effectiveness. Interventions, which assist in improving productivity and the quality of work life have three characteristics: (1) they are based on valid information about the organization`s functioning; (2) they provide organizational members with opportunities to make free and informed choices; and (3) they gain member`s internal commitment to these choices. Valid information is the result of an accurate diagnosis of the firm`s functioning. It must fairly reflect what organizational members perceive and feel about their primary concerns and issues. Free and informed choice suggests that organizational members are actively involved in making decisions about the changes that will affect them. It means that they can choose not to participate and that interventions will not be imposed upon them. Internal commitment means that organizational members accept ownership of the intervention and take responsibility for implementing it. In fact, if interventions are to result in meaningful changes, management must be committed to implementing them (Cummins/Worley, 1993).

4.2. Change Management Literature Review

Business Reengineering methodologies do not take people much into consideration, even that there exists a vast amount of literature on Change Management (Davenport, 1996). Business Reengineering is dealing more with Information Technology aspects of reorganizing the way corporations work. Change Management deals with how people are being affected by an organizational change of any kind, and what interventions have to be undertaken to make the change effort a success for the customers, the company owners and the people working for the company. The large number of Change Management approaches available can be classified into six categories (Table 4.2./1).

Table 4.2./1 Classification of Change Management Approaches

The black blocks in Table 4.2./1 indicate the potential impact of the respective interventions (rows) on the domains (columns) individual, group, organization and environment.

4.2.1. Psychology of the Individual Change Approaches

Psychology of the individual deals with the individual person. The character and the process of individual change are at the heart of psychological research. Individual psychology is relevant to Business Reengineering, since project initiators, project team members and affected people in the organization are individual people with individual characters and behaviors. Dr Johnna Shamp, a licensed organizational psychologist remarks, that most consultants focus on organizational change, but don`t pay enough attention to the impact change has on the individual worker. She encourages consultants to intervene at the level of the individual affected by change (Shamp, 1997). Relevant authors to the field of individual change are listed in Table 4.2.1./1.

Table 4.2.1./1 Relevant Authors of Individual Change

4.2.2. Social Psychological Change Approaches

Social psychological change is a wide field of study. It is based on the works of Kurt Lewin, who fled Nazi Germany to become the founder of field theory, action science, group dynamics, socio-technical science, and organizational development. Lewin himself was influenced by Gestalt-Psychology. Lewin´s basic idea was, that the individual person is more shaped by her social environment (groups) than by her genes. Relevant authors to the field of social psychological change are listed in Table 4.2.2./1.

Table 4.2.2./1 Relevant Authors of Social Psychological Change

4.2.3. Cultural Change Approaches

Cultural approaches look at change from the perspective of the culture of an organization. Organizational culture is a much-discussed topic and will emerge as a pivotal frame of reference for many leaders or managers in any organization. Culture of an organization or group of people can be defined as:

"A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems" (Schein, 1992).

Culture is mostly unconscious to the members of the organization and is able to control the behaviors of organizational change, even when the project plan calls for new behaviors. This is one of the reasons, why new leaders introducing change in an organization sometimes replace key positions with new people, external to the organization.

Relevant authors to the field of cultural change are listed in Table 4.2.3./1.

Table 4.2.3./1 Relevant Authors of Cultural Change

4.2.4. Innovation Approaches

Innovation approaches look at change from the perspective of the diffusion of a new idea or practice. Diffusion is a process by which an innovation is communicated through various channels over time among the members of a social system (Rogers, 1983). Resistance to process innovation can be defined as late or no adoption by members of the organization undertaking a Business Reengineering project. Relevant authors of innovation change approaches are listed in Table 4.2.4./1.

Table 4.2.4./1 Relevant Authors of Innovation Change Approaches

4.2.5. Global Change Approaches

Global Change approaches look at organizational change from a very broad perspective. They focus on global transformations, based on life-threatening changes dictated by the whitewater-type changes happening in an organization`s environment. Not only processes, but structures, strategies, values and basically all variables of a business are subject to change.

Relevant authors of global change approaches are listed in Table 4.2.5./1.

Table 4.2.5./1 Relevant Authors of Global Change Approaches

4.2.6. Practitioner Approaches to Change

Practitioners (consultants and managers) typically take an eclectic approach to organizational change. They combine various aspects of the available theoretical approaches they know about, as well as add practical experiences with real change processes. Practitioner Approaches typically intervene at all levels. Relevant authors of practitioner approaches are listed in Table 4.2.6./1.

Table 4.2.6./1 Relevant Authors of Practitioner Approaches to Change

4.3. Selected Intervention Models

From the vast amount of available approaches the author has selected several models which suit the practical requirements of Business Reengineering projects regarding interventions to change, targeting the individual, the group, the organization, and the environment (Table 4.3./1).

Table 4.3./1 Selected Intervention Models

4.3.1. Selected Individual Change Interventions

IM 1: Turning Stress into Energy

Objective

This intervention technique helps the individual affected by an organizational change to help herself to positively cope an upcoming unpleasant and unclear situation, which otherwise may lead into fear or fight (Aaroz/Sutton,1994).

Intervention

This Rational-Emotive-Therapy (Ellis, 1988) based intervention technique breaks into seven steps, which a person affected by a change, can apply to herself (Table 4.3.1./1).

Table 4.3.1./1 Turning Stress into Energy

Applicability to Business Reengineering Projects

This intervention method requires, that the person affected has been thoroughly trained before the change event. The basic idea is, to apply logical thinking to personal problems, which otherwise would be handled purely emotionally. The technique is not applicable in a change situation though, where there is already an unusual high stress-level. For further individual intervention techniques it is advisable to study the work of Albert Ellis, the founder of Rational Emotive Therapy (RET).

IM 2: The Flow Concept

Objective

The Flow Concept has been developed by noted psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Csikzentmihalyi, 1988). He claims people`s behavior is not properly explained by, what he calls reductionist psychological theories of our times. His theory about motivation depends on the empirically tested relationship between the skills and demands regarding the performance of a person. The objective of this approach to explaining individual readiness for change is to develop that level of skills and demands, where a person gets into a state of Flow. Flow depicts a state of the self, where there is no resistance, very high motivation prevails disregarding existing hardships. A typical example for a person in the state of flow is a mountain climber, who is just able to climb over an extremely dangerous cliff, by utilizing her utmost skills. She is liable to get into a state of very high motivation. She is extremely focused and in the state of Flow. Adopting the Flow concept to the task of organizational change, requires management to address each person and team. Skills and demands have to be aligned in a way, that people feel energized by new tasks, and definitely want to carry them through.

Intervention

The state of Flow is not arrived at automatically. Either the person herself updates the demands on herself and works on her skills, or somebody from the outside (management) is supporting this Intervention. Figure 4.3.1./1 shows four states the self of a person can be in at any given time.

Figure 4.3.1./1 States of the Self of a Person

A person that experiences not much demands on the job and does not have many skills relative to her capabilities, typically rests in a state of apathy. This is the sad situation of many people with low paid jobs.

One way out of this situation is learning new skills. Training helps to increase skills. Yet, if the demands on the job do not increase, boredom follows. To illustrate this: many employers are surprised when they let young people take additional training, only to find out that they quit their jobs right after the classes. Sometimes the training institute is accused of letting lure these people away. The real reason is, that after training and acquiring new skills, people find their current job boring. The demands have not been increased. They are doing the same job at a higher skill level.

On the other hand, increasing demands without granting proper training, makes people fear, they cannot meet expectations. Stress and frustration follow. Both states, boredom and stress create resistance to change.

The concept of Flow teaches, that if skills and demand are updated at the same time, personal change evolves in a way that people get energized and tend to enter into a state of flow. To make this happen, jobs have to be made more demanding, at the same time, skill training has to take place. Depending on the character of the person involved, some of these activities can be started by the individual herself, most have to be helped through the situation with carefully planned training programs.

Applicability to Business Reengineering Projects

Flow is an interesting intervention in Business Reengineering projects. It is both applicable to the individual, and the work team. The Flow concept addresses the technical and the people side of Business Reengineering. The technical side of Flow requires, that the processes and the work-places have to be made more demanding and the people side requires proper training for additional skills, that empower people to live up to the demands of the new processes and work-place structures. In reality though, many Business Reengineering efforts do not add more intellectual demands to the work-processes. They often build work-process blueprints, that offer not more, but less flexibility to the individual member of the organization (Nadler/Shaw/Walton, 1995). The Flow Concept teaches Reengineers to design work-processes with minimum specifications so that they can evolve through the application of enhanced skills by the affected individual.

IM 3: Personal Coaching

Objective

The work of coaching within organizations involves unleashing the human spirit and expanding people`s capacity to achieve new goals and to bring about real change (Hargrove, 1995).Coaching is aimed at considering and altering the context, in which setting goals, motivating people and giving feedback to people in change situations, occur. The context for coaching is stewardship (Block, 1993) and the learning model. Personal coaching means, to make personal transformations happen. Through successful coaching, personal behaviors can be changed dramatically, by getting to the roots of people`s frames of reference and ways of being. As Hargrove puts it: "Coaching is about challenging and supporting people, giving them the gift of your presence" (Hargrove, 1995). A coach should manage to get a person or team she is coaching, to not act on the theory-of use they own, but on their espoused theory. The one, they really want. A manager, for example, who really wants team-work, must behave in a way, he is not used to. His coach has to tell him, which behaviors are supporting the espoused theory (team-work), and which are counter-productive (theory-in-use). A masterful coach is a person, who is a vision builder and value shaper, not just a technician who helps people reach their goals. She is someone who enters deeply into the learning system of a person or team, she coaches.

Intervention

Coaching is a journey. It starts out with helping individuals and moves on to be instrumental in helping teams, and finally the whole organization to become successful. The author went through several coaching engagements, by first concentrating on coaching the owners/CEO`s of companies, then moving on to their teams and departments. The following four compass points on the map of successful change (Hargrove, 1995) describe the journey of coaching (Table 4.3.1./2).

Table 4.3.1./2 Compass Points of Coaching

Applicability to Business Reengineering Projects

Coaching is highly applicable to Business Reengineering. In particular middle managers need guidance. Middle managers often suffer from Business Reengineering, by losing their status, sometimes connected with losing money. They have to be coached, often with the objective to transform them into coaches themselves. James Champy, one of the founders of Business Reengineering, remarks to the coach`s metaphor: "The sum of a coach´s actions is to give a team ownership and build trust. When the team wins, there is a tremendous feeling of shared accomplishment" (Champy, 1995).

4.3.2. Selected Social Psychological Change Interventions

IM 4: The Lewin Model of Change

Objective

The Lewin model of change is the classic approach for planned change. Lewin dismantled change into three consecutive steps: Unfreeze the current state, Move towards the new state, Refreeze the new state. Change is defined as a transition from an existing quasi equilibrium to a new quasi equilibrium (figure 4.3.2./1).

Figure 4.3.2./1 Transition and Forces of Change

The existing state A of a social system (such as the organizational performance of a given company) is at level L2 . This state is being held up by two different sets of forces. The forces for keeping the status quo and the forces for change. These forces compensate each other and form a quasi equilibrium at level L2. If a change effort plans to move from the L2 towards a new state L1, there are two alternatives (B and C).

Strategy B calls for moving towards L1 by increasing change forces and decreasing resisting forces. The new level has been reached, but by building up high tension. The contradictory forces have not been reduced. Keeping up the new level L1 requires a lot of energy, which is lost to the social system.

Strategy C requires much less energy. The resisting forces have been lowered by taking various initiatives. Lewin and Schein propose collaborative efforts to reduce resisting forces (Lewin, 1982; Schein, 1995). Therefore it makes much more sense to reduce resisting forces, than to increase change forces, which are already there. Lewin proposes learning as the proper tool to start moving into a new direction (unfreeze). These are:

Change of the cognitive structure of affected people (increase knowledge).

Change of motivation (learn to accept change).

Change of the group, a person belongs to (move into a new culture).

Acquisition of new skills.

 

The Lewin approach to planned change has been refined by William Bridges (Bridges, 1991). The objective of the approach is to help affected people over the transition period of change. Change, according to Bridges is not the same as transition. Change is situational: the new site, the new boss, the new process. Transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation. Change is external, transition is internal. Unless transition occurs, change will not work.

Intervention

1. Transition Starts With an Ending

The starting point for transition is not the outcome, but the ending that will have to be made to leave the old situation behind. Situational change hinges on the new thing, but psychological transition depends on letting go of the old reality and the old identity people had before the change took place. Transitions begin with having to let go of something used to.

2. The Neutral Zone

The neutral zone is the no-man`s land between the old reality and the new. It is the time, when the old way is gone and the new way doesn`t feel comfortable yet. It is important to understand the neutral zone for several reasons. First, if one does not expect it and understand why it is there, one is likely to try to rush through it and is discouraged when it cannot be done. Secondly, one might be frightened in this no-man`s land and try to escape. Employees do this frequently, which is why there is an increased level of turnover during major organizational change (such as Business Reengineering). To abandon the situation, however, is to abort the transition and to jeopardize the change. The neutral zone is both a promising and a dangerous place.

3. Ending the Neutral Zone and New Beginning

People make a new beginning only if they have first made an ending and spent some time in the neutral zone. Yet many organizations try to start with the beginning rather than finishing with it. They pay no attention to endings. They do not acknowledge the existence of the neutral zone.

Applicability to Business Reengineering Projects

Being the classic approach to organizational change the Lewin approach has both been empirically tested extensively, firstly in 1944 (French/Coch, 1946), and met the endorsement of important researchers of organizational change (Schein, 1995). Yet, it has also met considerable resistance by some scholars in the field. Kanter claims, that there is no such thing as refreezing, since modern times require companies to be in a constant flux (Kanter/Stein/Jick, 1992).

The Lewin approach is well suited for explaining what is going on in Business Reengineering change. Work practices have to be given up, changed and put into new practice. This is particularly true for business processes, which are heavily computerized. Learning is at the heart of transition to new work processes.

Energy should be directed to the project, not to fights between proponents and resisters of the Business Reengineering change.

IM 5: The Resistance Formula

Objective

Beckhard defined a widely publicized formula to study the effectiveness of management actions towards implementation of organizational change (Beckhard/Pritchard, 1992). Beckhard did not develop an intervention in the true sense of the word, but rather an indication regarding what is important in an organizational change situation. His formula serves as a focusing tool for project teams, undertaking a major change effort.

Intervention

Figure 4.3.2./1 presents Beckhard`s resistance formula.

Figure 4.3.2./2 Beckhard`s Resistance Formula

The resistance formula`s variables stand for:

A = Degree of dissatisfaction with the present situation

B = Desire for the a new situation

D = Practicability of the change effort

R = Resistance (cost of change)

In order for change to be successful, there must be enough shared dissatisfaction with the status quo, a vision of how to proceed, and knowledge of the first steps for moving ahead.

If any of the factors A, B, or D remains zero, resistance takes over and threatens the success of the change effort. (Beckhard assumes, that R = 0 will never happen.)

Applicability to Business Reengineering Projects

The change formula shows the required direction of management decisions and actions in a change situation. It should be taken as a mathematically correct formula; but rather as a practical consideration towards overcoming resistance to change. If management starts a challenging change initiative, and demonstrates clearly that the current situation is bad, then it might kindle people`s desire for new ventures. If additionally management provides all resources required to perform the change, then the change project has a good chance of success. What makes the formula valuable particular in a Business Reengineering project setting, is the mathematical expression, since Reengineers typically take a technical viewpoint to the overall effort.

IM 6: Drive Out Fear

Objective

Fear in the workplace is one the most dangerous barriers to change. Too much fear directly leads to paralysis in thinking and acting of the people affected by the change. Ryan/Oestreich define fear in the workplace as feeling threatened by possible repercussions as a result of speaking up about work-related concerns (Ryan/Oestreich, 1991). These feelings of threat can come from five sources :

Actual experience in the current situation (organizational change situation), or in a past similar situation.

Stories about other`s experiences about threats and losses.

Assumptions and private interpretations of other`s behaviors (in particular management behaviors).

Negative, culturally based stereotypes about those with supervisory power.

Unclear situations and outcomes (rumors, etc.)

 

Fear may exist throughout the organization. Those who are feared by their subordinates, may in turn fear their own superiors. A change situation may even turn a whole organisation into a fearful place. The characteristic of fear is, that people do not talk about it. Very often fear is an undiscussable item within an organization. Even when asked, people deny feelings of fear.

Table 4.3.2./1 demonstrates the impact of fear, which has been studied in a representative organization (Ryan/Oestreich, 1991).

Table 4.3.2./1 The Impact of Fear

Fear does not increase motivation for a change. And yet, many managers use fear to underline the urgency of change matters; "If you do not change your performance now, your work-places will be gone within the next two years"; often without knowing about the negative impacts of fear on the organization`s future.

The opposite of fear is trust. Trust requires trustworthiness. Managers must be trustworthy, so that people in the organization lose or do not develop fear. Management consultant Covey points out that trust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the best in people (Covey, 1989). But it takes time and patience, and it doesn`t preclude the necessity to train and develop people so that their competency can rise to the level of that trust. To develop trust and not fear is the ultimate task of managers and leaders in change situations.

Therefore the objective must be to build a high-trust working environment. This is particularly necessary in fast and very complex change situations, where managers tend to overlook the alleged time-consuming task of trust building, in favor of drastic, fear-generating actions.

Intervention

To build a high-trust working environment without fear, the following strategies are proposed (Ryan/Oestreich, 1991):

Build Relationships Without Fear

Most people want to do a good job and be proud of their work (McGregor, 1985). They want to contribute to a success greater than their own. They want to have good working relationships and feel respected. The first step in moving away from fear is to develop a new vision of positive work-place relationships. Open communication, building common commitment to a common goal are only two measures towards changing core behaviors. The key to this is, changing negative assumptions. For example: "What if managers started to believe, that employees care about their work above and beyond the money they get paid to perform it. What if employees start to believe, that their managers want their workload to be fair and reasonable." If people begin with the premise that they can trust one-another, their work relationships take on a new dimension. Managers need to acquire new skills, to start building relationships without fear. In particular, they need to be willing to make personal changes in their thinking about employees; learn to facilitate, rather than to direct; deal with their own fears and learn to speak up.

Acknowledge the Presence of Fear

Changing the work-place to a high-trust environment, requires that people understand the issue of fear and see it happening around them. Once fear`s presence has been acknowledged and not denied, planning for and implementing a new course of fearless action can begin. Key is, to take a systems approach to explain fear, rather than blaming particular people (managers) for its presence.

Pay Attention to Interpersonal Conduct

Once fear`s presence and negative impact are openly acknowledged, managers can begin to think about steps to isolate and reduce it. One of the first steps should be to train supervisors, managers and executive to stop abrasive and abusive behavior toward employees. Table 4.3.2./2 shows conducts, superiors need to avoid (Ryan/ Oestreich, 1991).

Table 4.3.2./2 Conducts, Superiors Need to Avoid

The behavior patterns toward other people are not easily changed. They have to be decided upon by establishing general norms for behavior. It is advisable to involve as many people as possible in a norm-setting discussion. Training the new patterns of behavior is key to its success. Frequent formalized feedback on conduct is extremely important and should be a building block for regularly assess personal performance of superiors and subordinates. Reward systems should reinforce accepted behaviors.

Give as Much Clear Information as Possible

Information is the lifeblood for communication. Communication is mandatory for a successful organizational change project. Two questions have to be answered to ensure a functioning communication process between change initiators and the members of the organization: "What information should we share and with whom ?"; and "What methods are best to ensure a fast and consistent flow of information ?".

Managers should make sure, that information gets through. They should assume, that employees are interested in what is going on. More information is better than none. Such information should be shared with people, they are directly affected by. To disseminate information quickly, e-mails and electronic mailboxes should be used additionally to the traditional billboards. It is mandatory, that all information presented is crisp, precise and short. There always should be a person available to the employees, who can rapidly provide more information, if wanted.

Particularly in the beginning of a change process, members have many questions. Questions about the objective of the change initiative , their own roles, their future status, the Change Management methods employed, known risks associated to the change, etc. It is mandatory, that these question be taken seriously, and answered timely, clearly, precise and comprehensive. Written format is advisable, because one can always go back to what has been answered by management.

Applicability to Business Reengineering Projects

The management of fear is highly relevant to projects of Business Reengineering. The reason being, that Business Reengineering first concentrates on the redesign of work processes. Only after time it is being revealed, what effects the redesign has on the organizational structure and the work-places. This differentiates Business Reengineering from other organizational change initiatives; for example moving a factory to another location, because these immediately deal with work-place changes, offering relatively fast information to affected people. Therefore it is important, that management takes fears on all levels very seriously and actively incorporates trust-building interventions into the Business Reengineering project plan.

4.3.3. Selected Cultural Change Interventions

IM 7: Becoming an Effective Behind-the-Scenes Manager

Objective

Gerard Egan, a professor at Loyola University, presents interventions to manage the shadow-side of the culture of an organization (Egan, 1994). He describes the shadow-side of an organization as having several dimensions:

Significant activities and arrangements that remain unidentified or undiscussed in some decision-making setting of the company.

 

Since shadow-side factors are not formally discussed, they fall outside the reach of ordinary managerial interventions.

 

Shadow-side activities and arrangements often substantially affect both productivity and the quality of work life in the company.

 

The shadow-side works by unwritten rules, which often overwrite the official rules and norms of the organization.

 

The term hidden organization refers to the shadow-side of an organization by describing an organizational structure not found on the formal organization chart. It is one that grows up alongside or within the formal (overt) organization to provide services and benefits not provided by the formal organization.

For a manager it is important to understand the hidden organization, to make an organizational change effort last. Rather than fighting it, a (new) manager should try to understand the hidden organization to make it work for her.

Intervention

To work with the hidden organization, and to become an effective behind-the-scenes manager, the following tactics are proposed:

Identify Shadow-Side Issues

Identifying shadow-side issues is the first step toward bringing them under managerial control. For instance, when the manager of a change effort knows, that her proposed project will mean the redistribution of scarce resources, she will know, that the discussion of it will be political. Shadow-side issues are not obvious to the inattentive manager, they are tacit, but show strong effects. Identifying shadow-side issues requires scanning of short remarks and the non-verbal language of the discussants for indications of political maneuvering.

Use of a Cost-Benefit Analysis

Once shadow-side issues are identified, a managerial choice has to be made about which ones to tackle. The best way is to use a cost-benefit analysis, a simple but effective tool known to all managers. Doing this, the manager has to ask herself a number of questions:

Is the issue worth the time and effort ?; What is the likelihood of getting this substantive shadow-side issue discussed in a formal decision-making forum ?; Even if the issue can be brought into some decision-making forum for discussion and debate, what is the likelihood of a positive outcome ?; Even if the outcome is positive, what is the likelihood that it can be sustained ?

Answering these questions helps the manager to formulate more focused and substantial strategies and tactics to overcome informal issues negatively impacting change efforts. It particularly helps to overcome the helplessness of many managers of failed change projects: "We shouldn`t have been doing this change project, it lead to nowhere. Reason is, we don`t own the culture, the culture owns us".

Choose a Decision Making Forum

A decision making forum can be any forum that potentially yields results about selected shadow-side issues. Egan asserts that some of the following questions help to select the proper decision making forum:

"How important is the shadow-side issue ?". This determines, who on the hierarchical level is to be involved. "How wide is its impact in terms of people, the business, the company, or the bottom line ?" The answer to this question might be to involve the whole company on all levels. "Which forum will be most effective ?" The forum closest to the shadow-side issue may well be the forum of choice. It need not be a formal meeting, though. It can be an informal talk (Egan, 1994).

Initiate Discussion Assertively and Tactfully

Savvy managers, understanding the roots of shadow-side defensiveness, find constructive ways to address shadow-side issues in appropriate forums. The two key competencies needed to do this are assertiveness and tact. Yet many managers are not assertive as needed. They will allow a difficult person remain difficult and disruptive of the work of others. Too many managers allow decisions based on the politics of self-interest to pass. Many need to become more assertive for the success of the company and its change processes. The way in which shadow-side issues are brought forward is often just as important as surfacing them assertively in the first place. The assertive manager is not to be confused with the aggressive manager. The latter tends to put people on defense and creates resistance. There are too many managers who are ready to tell people what to do. Tact keeps assertiveness from becoming aggressiveness. Since many shadow-side issues are politically, socially and psychologically sensitive, a certain delicacy in dealing with them is called for.

Use Shared Problem-Solving Methodology

Shared methodologies are powerful managerial tools. Shared problem-solving methodology, applied to shadow-side issues, involves some set of guidelines (Egan, 1994):

Gather the organizational players who should be involved in the process. Also include negatively behaving persons.

Identify problems, concerns, unused potential, or unexploited opportunities.

Choose issues that have leverage potential; i.e., that will make a substantial contribution to the organization.

Develop a clear scenario of the end-state after having explored issues and causes.

Determine the stakeholders affected by the scenario and get them involved.

Devise pathways to the solution, bring them together in a sound action plan.

Name the key factors for success.

Execute the plan in a results oriented fashion.

 

 

 

Use Double-Loop Learning

The term Double-Loop Learning has been coined by Chris Argyris, one of the foremost thinkers of our times about management of change (Argyris, 1992). He criticizes traditional Change Management theories to not taking the thoughts, feelings and learning processes of individuals into account. He defines learning as occurring under two conditions: First, learning occurs when an organization achieves what is intended; Second, learning occurs when a mismatch between intentions and outcomes is identified. Organizations do not learn, but individuals perform the actions, that produce the learning. Whenever an error is detected and corrected without altering the underlying values of the system (individual, group, organization), the learning is single-loop. Single-loop learning occurs when matches are created, or when mismatches are corrected by changing actions (figure 4.3.3./1).

Figure 4.3.3./1 Single-Loop and Double-Loop Learning

Double-loop learning in contrast occurs, when mismatches are corrected by first examining and altering the governing variables and then the actions. Governing variables can be inferred, by observing the actions of individuals acting as agents for the organization, to drive and guide their actions. Double-loop learning may not be said to occur if someone (acting for the organization) discovers a new problem or invents a solution to a problem. Rather, learning occurs when the invented solution is actually produced. Finally, single-loop learning is appropriate for the routine, repetitive issue - it helps to get the everyday job done. Double-loop learning is more relevant for the complex problems - it assures that there will be another day in the future of the organization. Double-loop learning uncovers the defensive reasoning of people in complex change issues and thus helps to detect and overcome resistance.

A double-loop problem is one that is murky, rather than clear. Its murkiness comes from such things as false assumptions about the problem itself, political maneuverings among the players, and norms from the hidden organization. Double-loop problem management is a corrective process that goes to a deeper level as just the surface symptoms.

Argyris defines the following double-loop principles (Argyris, 1995):

Get the assumptions about the problem or issue into the open.

Help the group reformulate any mistaken assumptions.

Clarify the ambiguities in the motivation of the players.

See whether there are any incongruities in the processes being used to deal with the issue.

Surface withheld information.

Collect and put in order any scattered information that is relevant to the problem.

 

Emphasize Prevention

The economics of prevention are far more economical than cure. What is true for health care, is true for organizational change as well. Savvy managers, when starting a project, try to anticipate the consequences by asking themselves the following prevention-oriented shadow-side questions (Egan, 1994):

What are the hidden obstacles ?

How will the difficult people react ?

What silent arrangements will throw the project off course ?

How disruptive will this project be to current social arrangements ?

What power plays will be initiated by key individuals ? Or key units ?

How compatible is this course of action with the hidden organization ?

What inertia will we run into ?

 

Applicability to Business Reengineering Projects

Effective-Behind-the-Scenes-Management is a valuable intervention method for dealing with barriers to Business Reengineering, deeply embedded in the culture of an organisation. Even that most members of an organization know about the existence of the hidden side, managers typically do nothing to rationalize hidden agendas and adjust their project plans accordingly. Business Reengineering`s valid message of responding to changes in the marketplace, by fundamentally changing the work, people work together requires not only to take the obvious into account, but also the hidden, relationships and facts, behind the scenes. The success of a project manager and his team could heavily depend on their ability to take the hidden organization out in the open.

4.3.4. Selected Innovation Interventions

IM 8: The Roles of the Change Agent

Objective

A change agent is an individual who influences client`s innovation decisions in a direction deemed desirable by a change agency (Rogers, 1983). A change agency is the initiator or sponsor of a change. The change agent can be a professional consultant from outside the organization, but the roles can also be filled with facilitating aides within the organization undergoing an organizational innovation. Change agents act as linkers between a change agency and the client system. She helps the information about the innovation to flow from the change agency (project initiators) to the client system (people affected by the innovation). She also helps to channel client`s needs and feedback about the change program to flow to the change agency. The objective of implementing change agents is, to diffuse the innovation in way, that the concerns of both the change agency and the client system are being properly recognized in the change process. Such, a change agent has direct influence on resistance processes.

Intervention

Rogers identifies seven roles for a change agent (Rogers, 1983):

Change Agent Develops Need for Change

A change agent is often initially required to help the clients (employees) become aware of the need to change their behavior. In order to initiate the change process, the change agent points out new alternatives to existing problems, dramatizes the importance of these problems, and may convince clients of their capabilities to cope with the problems.

Change Agent Establishes an Information-Exchange Relationship

Once a need for change is created, a change agent must develop rapport with her clients. Trustworthiness and empathy with the client`s needs are at the core. The change agent has to make clear to the clients, that on one side she is dependent upon the change agency ( the external consultant is dependent on the fee; an internal aide is a dependent employee himself), on the other hand independent towards her professional advise. Never may a change agent let herself be misused as a tool for manipulating people`s behavior. Change agent success is positively related to a client orientation, rather than to a change agency orientation. Client-oriented change agents are more likely to be feedback-minded, to have close rapport and high credibility in the eyes of their clients, and to base their diffusion activities on client`s needs. Therefore, clients must accept the change agent before they will accept the innovations that she promotes, because the innovations are often judged in part on the basis of how the change agent is perceived as a person. The crucial question being: "Can we trust her ?".

Related Reengineering Resources

Reengineering Best Practices
Reengineering Toolkits and Document Templates
Business Process Reengineering Implementation
Change Management Strategies and Action Planning
Process Management and Improvement

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