I was working with an organisation recently that had a very structured plan for how they wanted to implement culture change and were working methodically through it.
What I noticed was that nothing was actually changing as they went through it.
All the boxes on the project plan were being ticked but the changes in behaviour they wanted to happen weren’t taking effect.
At the same time there were some senior leaders getting very engaged in the change and wanting to roll it out to their teams before their ‘turn’ on the plan, and were being told they couldn’t by the HR team – ‘we need to use our resources effectively and we have spent time planning the best order to do this in’. As a result leaders were either forced to ‘do their own thing’ which potentially derails consistent change, or they lost energy and focus as their attention switched to something else.
Change is messy and doesn’t happen in neat, packaged plans. People change behaviour at different speeds, with different motivations and ploughing on through a project plan just to say you have completed it won’t get you the change you seek.
Working with the energy, wherever it emerges, is far easier than trying to create it in a structured way. Working with people’s passions will always have a greater effect.
I have noticed that if you ‘light fires’ throughout an organisation, wherever leaders have the energy to change, eventually these fires join up naturally, creating a ‘bonfire of change’. It is messy, organic, exciting and can achieve step change more quickly than over planning and trying to force people to engage in something they don’t see as important.
If you are interested in trying a different approach to change that actually works contact david.tomkinson@andpartnership.com or call 0870 4050060
