Questions to Ask Before Making on Any Changes
“The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”
Charles Kettering
Notable Quotes
“If you challenge conventional wisdom, you will find ways to do things much better than they are currently done.” Bill James” Michael Lewis, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Albert Einstein
By Torben Rick
#1 – Laying the foundation
Why is change necessary?
Have we got logical and compelling reasons for the change and what are they?
How can we build a solid business case for the change?
What’s the best way to establish a sense of urgency?
How do we prepare a road-map for the change?
How can we communicate why the change is happening in a convincing manner to people?
How can we say this so employees will understand?
What are the barriers and implications to a successful implementation of the change?
How is the proposed change aligned with our organizational strategy plan?
What is the end state vision? How clear and compelling is this vision?
Who will form the guiding coalition? Who will help with the change?
What will tell us that we’ve been successful?
How can we paint a picture of what success will be like for people?
Have we incorporated new values and attitudes to weave into our culture so they are embedded?
#2 – Learning what we need to know
What’s actually going to change? What will people have to give up?
Who will feel threatened by the change and how will I deal with their concerns?
Do people have the skills needed to implement and adopt the new system?
How well do people trust their leadership?
Who are the informal leaders who can help advocate for the change?
Who are the supporters of the change and how can we leverage their support?
#3 – Planning the change process
When and how will the change be introduced and reinforced?
How can we remove obstacles and amplify wins?
What communications will we need? Who are the right people to communicate those messages?
What can we do to keep the information flow frequent, timely and clear to all stakeholders and also listen to their concerns?
How can we involve some of the people affected by the change?
How can we leverage employees knowledge and empowerment?
How can we arrange for people to be coached and supported during the change?
What training will people need?
#4 – Making change work
How well do people understand what we’re saying about the change?
What do our metrics tell us about our progress?
How well are we reinforcing positive behavior?
How can we motivate and support people during this change?
What are our plans in order of priority to manage resistance?
What are we learning as we implement?
What course corrections need to be made?
#5 – Embedding change in the organization
How can we make this a natural part of everyday life?
How well have we addressed the problem we set out to solve?
What will we do to recognize and reward achievements?
What remains to be done?
What are our next steps?
#6 – Review the change
Later, how do we review the change?
How can we learn from any lessons learned?
John P Kotter: eight-step change model can be summarized as:
1. Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.
2. Build the guiding team - get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels.
3. Get the vision right - get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.
4. Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to people's needs. De-clutter communications - make technology work for you rather than against.
5. Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognize progress and achievements.
6. Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones.
7. Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing change - encourage ongoing progress reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones.
8. Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, new change leaders. Weave change into culture.
Additional Reading
Leading Change by John P. Kotter
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Point of Reflection
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Reinhold Niebuhr