Transformational change
Definition
Transformational change is different from the normal continuous change that organizations go through.
Transformational change is two or more of the following:
- Initiated by radically changing external factors
- Impacts the sub-structures of the organization (e.g. strategy, culture)
- Requires an extended period of transition
- Impacts people’s mindset and behaviour
- Unclear about the future
Transformational change is not problem-solving. It is designing the whole-system to meet the needs [of] … the future environment. It is an act of creating something, not fixing something.
— Lawrence M. Miller, 2014
Definition by example
Example of a transformational change:
A company is responding to major talent shortages by shifting business focus to an employee-centric workplace. They are creating a new suite of office technologies for greater virtual work flexibility, setting up an internal store with personalized employee benefits, and promoting a focus on employee recognition by managers and peers.
Example of a continuous (normal) change:
Digitizing paper files from all departments of an organization into an online database to decrease retrieval times and reduce paper usage.
Challenges
There are four main challenges when implementing transformational change:
- Size
- Uncertainty
- Complexity
- Resistance to change
Ask yourself
Cheryll Watson’s self-reflection questions:
- What is the community saying?
- What do they need?
- Am I the right leader to bring this forward?
- Are there things that I’m doing that are getting in the way of this change?
Common pitfalls
There are five common problems that can cause a transformational change to fail:
- Lack of vision
- Lack of governance or discipline
- Not removing barriers to change
- Underestimating the emotional side of change
- Insufficient investment from leadership
Lack of vision
A vision creates clarity and reduces uncertainty. The vision must be compelling and linked to the organizational change effort. It can be used in marketing and internal communication and should be shared at every opportunity.
Lack of governance
Transformational changes are large and complex. Governance and discipline are necessary.
A lack of leadership roles create a “not my job” attitude, diffusing responsibility so much that nothing gets done. Lack of governance also leads to not having a change agenda or common processes and methodology. You also run the risk of poor capacity planning, such as setting unrealistic timelines, not accounting for people’s current workloads, or not including the right talent.
Transformational change must be planned in manageable chunks to prevent change fatigue. Change fatigue occurs when a change process goes on for so long that people start to feel like no matter how much they do, there’s never an end. In order to prevent change fatigue, keep each chunk small enough that people can always see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Not removing barriers to change
You might fail to remove barriers to change because you haven’t spent enough time planning or understanding the scope of the change.
You might have not addressed barriers because you:
- were focusing too much on the technical side of the change
- underestimated the amount of infrastructure that will need to change
- didn’t identify the culture, mindsets, and behaviour required to support the change
Underestimating the emotional side of change
The real work of change comes from people. For the change effort to succeed, you must address the emotional side of change.
If you focus on changing behaviours without addressing the emotions, people will become more resistant to change. Over time, it will lead to skepticism and mistrust of future changes. You must have continuous buy-in throughout the length of your change. Address the emotional side early, so that it does not cause problems later.
Insufficient investment from leadership
Strong active leadership is necessary for transformational change. Key leaders must be fully committed and able to model the changing mindsets and behaviours. Without this, the transformation will be an uphill battle. Get leadership buy-in early on.
Sometimes leaders will misunderstand the change that you’re communicating. Leadership alignment from top to bottom is necessary to ensure the change is made consistently throughout the business.
Addressing emotional resistance
Productivity tends to drop during change as a result of normal emotional reactions. Productivity will recover only if the emotions are addressed.
- Be able to articulate your vision
- Understand and surface the emotions
- Have courage
Causes of emotional resistance
- Brains classify all stimulus as either a threat or a reward
- Brains have a negativity bias, and classify unknown or ambiguous stimulus as a threat
- Brains treat perceived social threats the same as physical threats
There are five social factors (S.C.A.R.F.) that cause a brain to perceive a social threat:
- Threats to status
- Threats to certainty
- Threats to autonomy
- Someone we don’t know well or trust (relatedness)
- Un-fairness
Effects of emotional resistance
When the brain’s limbic system engages, higher-level thinking becomes difficult and people are unable to behave rationally.
- People develop tunnel vision and lose sense of the big picture
- People are less able to process new information
- People are less creative or collaborative
The performance curve of a resolved emotional response forms a U-shape. The typical emotional stages are:
- Shock & denial
- Depression & anger
- Hanging in
- Acceptance
- Adjusting & forward movement
If the emotional resistance is not addressed, people will remain in the third stage.
Resolving emotional resistance
Source: Hardwiring happiness: Dr. Rick Hanson at TEDxMarin 2013 (Youtube)
TODO
Change leadership essentials
There are six traits of effective change leaders:
- Vision
- Emotional intelligence
- Grit
- Humility
- Mobilization
- Cooperativeness
Learn more at Characteristics - Transformational Change Leadership.
Start with your vision. Be an emotionally intelligent leader. Persevere through tough times. Stay humble and admit what you do not know.