In discussing how to create sustainable change within an organization Anthony Greenfield (Chartered Management Institute, 2009) outlines 5 Forces of Change:
These can also be looked at key motivators for behaviour. Each of these forces can be undermined when major change is introduced, leading people to resist the change in order to maintain their feelings of certainty, having purpose, being in control, being connected to others and the work that they are doing, and being successful in what they are doing (Chartered Management Institute, 2009). Greenfield poses that in order to create sustainable change within an organization we need to understand these psychological factors affecting response to change and developing capacity among members of the organization to respond to change positively and constructively (Greenfield, 2010). This concept of the “two complimentary interlinking capabilities” that need to be in place for sustainable change to be possible, both the “leaders at all levels who engage other positively with change and employees who have the skills and will to engage constructively with change” (Greenfield, 2010, p. 35) makes sense. Understanding what our motivations are, how change impacts our motivations, and developing skills and strategies for mitigating the negative emotions that can accompany change also makes sense. Making sense does not mean that this would be easy to implement though. In reading and viewing some of Greenfield’s work I am reminded of Peter Senge’s idea of the need to build a learning organization. This idea makes me visualize an organization as a living, breathing entity. It is not an inanimate thing, but rather a complex grouping of people, and as such, understanding people is essential to understanding an organization. Like developing the capacity for systems thinking, understanding and applying the forces of change requires a shift of mind and developing the ability to see interrelationships (Senge, 1990). In this case it is the interrelationships between the change, the emotional responses to change, the resulting behaviours, and the effects of these behaviours. Perhaps leveraging the forces of change can be imbedded as part of systems thinking, as a change of this nature could lead to a significant and potentially long lasting improvement to the system overall. In The Fifth Discipline, Senge states that, “Organizations learn only through individuals who learn. Individual learning does not guarantee organizational learning. But without it no organization learning occurs.” (Senge, 1990, p. 139). Again, this brings us back to the idea that it is the people themselves who are essential to the change, growth and development of an organization. For the application of Greenfield’s 5 forces of change to really work in supporting sustainable change the leaders need to support this process, but it is the other members of the organization, the individual “employees” who need to learn and implement the skills to manage the change. This is where I think some of the greatest challenges can lie. It’s not that I don't think this is possible, but I do think that there are many considerations here such as principles of trust and relationships. In Blended, Horn and Staker (2015) state that “culture is a critical part of the success of any blended-learning program” (p. 249). I would say this could be stretched to read that culture is a critical part of the success of any organization. Leaders and other individuals in an organization developing the skills to actively engage with change and constructively manage the forces of change would be a key element of a positive, collaborative, learning and growth focused culture. The next step in my learning will be to continue to investigate further elements needed to support this type of culture and how this can be supported through and by leadership. References: Chartered Management Institute. (2009, May 7). The 5 forces of change - Anthony Greenfiled talks to the CMI. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uwxzhbtBVw&feature=youtu.be Greenfield, A. (2010, December). Sustainable change. Training Journal. Horn, M. & Staker, H. (2015). Blended : Using disruptive innovation to improve schools. San Francisco, CA :Jossey-Bass. Senge, P.M. (1990). The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization. New York:Doubleday/Currency.
0 Comments
|
|