08 September 2009
There are limitless books on change, and even with our advanced scientific and medical systems, we have little certainty about how human beings actually change.
This week, Change Consultant and developer of MyCube Jeremy Barty, took a group of small and medium business owners and managers through change and how it affects their businesses.
He provided an overview of change, using five books:
Sacred Cows – Kriegel and Brandt, Confronting Fear – Everson, Viral Change – Leandro Herrero, Making Change Stick – Richard Reale and Managing Transition – William Bridges.
To the business leaders Jeremy suggested asking the following questions when considering change:
1. Is the change strategic or enforced, is it internal or influenced by external circumstances?
These two kinds of change require two very different responses. The circumstantial change should be done and is essentially defense and protection for survival eg economic pressure that leads to retrenchment, should be done quickly and humanely.
2. What resource is the most abundant in your business (time, people, money) and use that to drive change?
Most businesses have abundance in an area, if your abundance is financial, you are able to buy change. If your business doesn’t have extra cash, but has extra people, they could be used to drive the change.
3. As a business how calm or inwardly peaceful are you?
Frenetic busyness are not healthy for business, the most productive people are calm and peaceful. Change is painful, so you want to provide the most peaceful space for change to take place.
4. What does change do to your business and to your culture?
Change should not result to increased judgement. The change process should build and not destroy trust.
5. Because its all about work and structure, do you allow for human moments in the workplace?
New talents will become important in this world, particularly the ability to quieten our minds
so that we can tap into a deeper level of wisdom. According to Einstein, he discovered E=mc2 through deep, long years of meditation. As he writes, “Intuition is more important than IQ—
I never discovered anything with my rational mind.”
Small businesses often cannot afford organizational development consultants and thus have to manage their own change internally. Barty suggested three three tips for managing change within your small organisation:
Tip 1 - Develop a healthy culture
Your business culture dominates the response to work and structure changes, so build a culture in an honest sustainable way.
Three vital foundations to a healthy culture :
¥ Non-judgmental observation (looking at your business and seeing it for what it is, without making anything right or wrong)
¥ Value-centred dialogue
¥ Collective buy-in
Tip 2 – Work and structure rule
Effective structure and solid, habitual systems enable effective management and work
Tip 3 – Be wise and aware when changing
Be aware what you are dealing with, is this strategic change – is it the right time, circumstantial change – do it now, transitional change – be honest about what’s required.
