I am reminded of a scene from a beloved crime room drama, “A few good men”. In the movie, there is a scene where Lt. Caffey, played by Tom Cruise is questioning Colonel Jessup, played by Jack Nicholson.
“You want answers!” Col. Jessup yells at Caffey.
“I want the truth!” Lt. Caffey yells back
Col. Jessup yells back, “You can’t handle the truth!”
How often do organizations embark to implement some change to its systems when in fact the organization itself can’t handle the change?
Before implementing any kind of change to the system there are a few steps that need to be addressed. One of the first issues addressed possibly is what theory or model of change management is being considered? With so many theories and models available for change management, the question remains, is there a silver bullet to change? Is there a one-stop shopping in regards to change management? Is there a single model that when applied to any context will provide smooth sailing throughout the change that may be necessary to improve your system or organization?
If one reads through Haddad and Kotnour’s (2015) article, “Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change” you could be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed. The history of change management is vast, and the well of models to draw from is deep. It made me think, Do different contexts demand different models? Do different industries lend themselves more to a particular style of a model than others? Perhaps the target is always moving; therefore those who are implementing the change management need to be implementing regular course correction and evolving their methods and models to fit the context at that specific time.
Al-Haddad and Kotnour state, “change methods need to be continuously evolving to align with the environmental factors” (p.235). So what is a change leader to do? It is on the leaders to bring their employees and organizations through the changes that may be necessary to keep the company relevant and useful. Al-Haddad and Kotnour go on to speculate that leaders need to make the right decisions at the right time to motivate those who are under their charge to implement the changes to align with the system or organization (p. 239).
Easy right?
If the mark is always moving how will a leader know when to course correct and when to hold the line? Weller and Anderson (2013) discuss a model used when evaluating technological changes in higher-ed. While their context is regarding the use of new technologies in scholarship, the model still provides value to any shift being considered. Martin and Anderson reference Walker et al. (2004) in the four aspects of resilience:
Latitude: You must be aware of the amount that a system or organization can be stretched before it loses its ability to recover from the change.
Resistance: How easy will it be to change the system or organization? Will there be a lot of resistance to the proposed change?
Precariousness: How brittle is the system. Will the proposed change cause it to crumble?
Panarchy: How much do outside forces affect the organization or system?
When any change is brought upon a system or organization, the change leader must consider whether or not the organization is up to the changes being considered. Before all those questions can be answered it must first be asked; is the system or organization resilient enough to be able to handle the proposed changes? Sure, other considerations may also be taken into account; such as the type of leadership in place to spearhead the change, the scope of the change, the culture of the system or organization that the change will be affecting, and what model of change management will be used. But before any of that should be considered it must be asked, Can we handle the change?
As I consider the resilience of a company, I wonder what happens when your organization or system doesn’t have the latitude, has too much resistance, is too brittle, or has too many outside forces acting against the change?
References
Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), 234-262.
Weller, M., & Anderson, T., (2013). Digital Resilience in Higher Education. European Journal of Open Distance and E-Learning, 16(1), 53-66.
* Cover image by KoiQuestion used under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 license
February 16, 2019 at 11:07 am
Hi Chad,
I really connect to the theme of your post. There are many scenarios in healthcare where we are not ready or able to handle more change. I added the healthcare-specific reading for this week into my morning and read some very relevant ideas. In Antwi and Kale’s (2014) document on change management in healthcare, they speak to several change models for use in our context. Regarding Lewin’s ‘unfreezing’ stage of his 3-Step process, Antwi and Kale (2014) state that “Creating psychological safety leads to the mitigation of an individual’s anxiety towards change and fear of the unknown ” (p.5). This seems like common sense, but few leaders and practitioners prioritize the creation of psychologically safe workspaces and enhance the relevant skills in their teams. Once an environment feels like a safe space to be heard, team members can openly share their concerns, examine why they believe the current process should persist, and reflect on why a change might be not only possible but desirable as well. Creating psychological safety within learning and training environments has become a passion of mine through the MALAT coursework and the development of my thesis. I’m excited to move this concept and goal into my role as a Project Leader to help support our ability to handle change at the front line of care.
CB
Antwi, M., & Kale, M. (2014). Change Management in Healthcare: Literature Review, (January), 1–35.
February 17, 2019 at 10:57 am
This is an interesting post, Chad, and an equally interesting response from Christy.
Change is often thrust upon organizations and in turn, organizations often thrust change upon their employees. How does one re-structure an organization that is working well? Long-term employees do their jobs effectively, customers are comfortable with the service or product provided and then…Amazon. In an educational context and then…MOOCs or accredited fully online universities.
As Al-Haddad and Kotnour (2015) underline, the field of change management is vast. Selecting a framework, although not an answer in itself, will help the leader focus on key areas of potential stress. If it is determined that the organization is not ready for change, then it is a challenge to implement a change that may be inevitable for the survival of the company or institution.
Psychological safety strikes a note with me, too, Christy. I certainly saw the need for it when I worked in a healthcare setting but it applies to all situations where staff are asked to adjust to significant and frequent change while trying to get their jobs done. Leaders need to provide the time and space for the adjustment.