Well, this is not a discussion, but an article, because I truly believe that change is as simple as you make it.<\/p>\n
Do others feel the same?<\/p>\n
Well, Forbes seem to. \u00a0In a 2012 article titled How To Lead Change: 3 Simple Steps<\/a>,\u00a0they said \u201cAs much as some people want to create complexity around the topic of leading change, the reality is creating, managing and leading change is really quite simple.\u201d They go on to quote the 3 simple steps:<\/p>\n Also, published in 2013 by Projectyzer was an article called Change Management Reduced to Seven Simple Questions<\/a>,\u00a0which reduced Change Management down to the following questions:<\/p>\n Answering these questions will allow you to develop a simple approach to your change initiative.<\/p>\n I like this!<\/p>\n And, finally, in an article by CultivateLabs called The Simple Answer to Change Management<\/a>,\u00a0they say \u201cRegardless of your next change endeavour, think about how to ‘make it easy.’ Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and ask yourself how external factors can be manipulated to achieve the desired end-result. It\u2019s easier said than done, but you might be surprised at how much more practical and thoughtful your change tactics become.\u201d<\/p>\n Still not convinced?<\/p>\n OK, that\u2019s fine. Let me continue and try to persuade you!<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start by looking at the words used in some of the change methodologies and models:<\/p>\n Jeez\u2026 what on earth are they talking about? What do they mean? As a change professional you probably do but do the people impacted by the change know? My answer to that is no definitely not. Oh and all those pretty pictures!<\/p>\n Yes, when you look at the detail that sits behind them they kind of make sense but, as I said, only you as a change professional will understand them but not the audience you are trying to convey your message to.<\/p>\n Models\/methodologies have their place but should not be used as the “be all and end all” in a change initiative. They sometimes only serve to restrict Change Managers who should not be “shackled” because “change” is an iterative process and needs to be flexible and intuitive. No one size fits all so let’s not get hung-up on just one way because there are many ways and each has their own strengths and weaknesses.<\/p>\n Take a look at my article called Change Management Methodologies<\/a>.<\/p>\n The problem is when you start spouting these things to those that will be impacted by change (btw these are the people that will make it break your change initiative so beware because they will turn off and think you are completely mad) they haven’t got a clue about what they are and consequently you will lose them and probably bore them to tears. They will only really be interested in the WIIFM factor so you need to major on that. Change is as simple as you want to make it. Over-complicating things by talking about methodologies and models will only serve to turn people off and you will immediately create a barrier that will, in the future, be hard to break down.<\/p>\n While methodologies and models are an important component of Change Management capability it is not the only one, and perhaps not even the most important one. An experienced\/seasoned Change Agent who can make sense of the \u201cnoise\u201d using them and other tools is the most important asset.<\/p>\n Take a look at my article called The Personality Side of Being a Change Management Professional<\/a>.<\/p>\n There is a saying that goes \u201cChange is the only constant.\u201d\u00a0Well, my reply is that \u201cPeople are the only constant in change\u201d to which there are two perspectives:<\/p>\n People all have individual feelings and attitudes, e.g.:<\/p>\n Understanding these individual feelings and attitudes are critical to the successful implementation of change and knowing how to overcome a person\u2019s natural resistance will enable:<\/p>\n There is a distribution of attitudes starting at one of the spectrum, the\u00a0BLOCKER,\u00a0<\/strong>to the other end, the\u00a0CHAMPION<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Tell them about the following:<\/p>\n Messages about the Business Today such as:<\/strong><\/p>\n Messages about the Change itself such as:<\/strong><\/p>\n Messages about the Impact of the Change such as:<\/strong><\/p>\n Keep it direct and personal and convince them that they will be part of the change process.<\/p>\n This is important because if people do not understand what is going on they will resist. You need to have a clear an unambiguous way of communicating to them. I use a simple 4-stage approach:<\/p>\n When communicating please remember:<\/p>\n That\u2019s it really. Tell it the way it is, don’t over-complicate, talk to people in a language that they understand, keep them on-board and informed, be personable.<\/p>\n Have I convinced you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently contributed to a thread about models and methodologies on LinkedIn and said \u201cAre we making change too complicated? Isn’t it just is a simple matter of getting from A to B and ensuring your people join you on the journey! Just a thought!\u201d In an update I posted regarding my article 70% of… Change–Just KISS<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":2032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[565,561,966,965,967,872],"class_list":["post-2029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-organization","tag-bridges-transition-model","tag-change-management-methodology","tag-keep-it-simple-stupid","tag-kiss","tag-mckinsey-7-s","tag-prosci"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2029"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2035,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2029\/revisions\/2035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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It\u2019s not about the methodology or model. \u00a0It\u2019s about how we deliver the message.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nChange is about people and not methodologies or models.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nSo, keep it simple and talk to people in a language they understand.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Once you have told them, keep on communicating.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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