This is part 4 of the 4 blog series by Bob Black on Implementing Change across Complexities
For background on the case study, visit Part 1 of the blog by clicking here.
OXYMORON: A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction. Oxford Online Dictionaries, accessed 13 August 2017
Why start the Change Management Blog with a definition of oxymoron?
Well, for a significant time, my change team were dealing with the organisational reality of oxymoronic statements if not behaviours.
What do I mean, what did we discover and how can this help you in delivering effective organisational change?
What do I mean?
My experience is senior management teams and their reporting groups say one thing and expect/want another, expect change with stability, predictable outcomes with an unpredictable set of circumstances and so on…..
If this is not managed very carefully by self-regulation, broader understanding and appreciating in some real way multiple perspectives, it substantially increase the chances of confusion and significant input from the “Law of Unexpected Consequences”.
As a change team, we took time to discuss the potential impact of the “change oxymoron” and to construct a contextual response, aiming to keep on-track to the overall change “big picture” and the sub-sets that were its building blocks.
What did we discover?
As a change team, we discovered many things! However, too many to discuss in this blog!
Here are a few headline “things”:
- Expect the “change oxymoron” to be in-play during your change delivery. You will need a plan to manage this.
- People will speak and act in an oxymoronic way to organisational change. Ensure that you have organisationally aware and assertive people as members of your change implementation team.
- Speaking “truth to power” is almost always going to have associated risk. Think about your change team’s “truth to power” strategy.
How can this Case Study, Parts 1 – 4, help you?
Most change teams perceive themselves and are perceived by their Sponsor(s) as being “late” even though the change roll-out has just or is about to start. This “psychological lateness” has the potential to force the change team to “hurry”….at the very point in time when they should be thinking, discussing, planning and engaging. Take your time: thinking et al is working!!
On reading through the Case Study, maybe there’s been some new stuff, some stuff that’s been forgotten and now remembered, some stuff that we used to do but stopped etc.
Take a moment and decide if your approach to change is based on “habit or choice”.
It’s extremely important to have the best change team possible. BTW, only you can decide what’s the “best” for your change programme! Please, please, please take time to create, sustain and maintain the change team members, change fatigue also affects the change team.
Think about the tools, techniques, and measurements that are most appropriate for delivering and measuring effect and impact of your change actions.
Hope you’ve enjoyed reading this, all the best for your change activities.
