Change is the only constant |
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The Problem:The founder of your business spotted a 'window of opportunity' and responded to it. He - or she - identified a market need and set about meeting that need, thereby hopefully improving the general well-being while making a profit, generating jobs and keeping himself/herself out of the pub and off the streets.So is the need your business meets still the original one? Things change with time - there's not the call for buggy whips or one-hour photo processing there once was. While bread and beer are still in demand, the ways of making both have changed radically. Even the ways businesses are structured and operated change. Everything changes. The problem with this is that the business organisation - be it a company or government agency - has an opposed dynamic. Systems are organised to endure, to cope with fluctuating forces - external change - without breaking down, to continue functioning regardless: to not change. Each member of the firm wants his or her niche to be secure, ranging from the lowliest fearing redundancy to the mandarins protecting their empires. This is the problem - the world outside is constantly changing, including its need for your product. Minor change to realign your products or practices with changed needs acknowledges this, but organisational 'permanence' will oppose the substantial, real change that is needed. |
The Dilemma:Actually, people are pretty good dealing with change - individually and collectively. We rug-up on cold days, we bury our dead and we deal with our broken hearts by finding Somebody Else. Look at how Londoners coped with the Blitz! Sure, it's never that comfortable, but when needs must ...The main problem with change in an organisation is that it's always somebody else's silly idea. Group-think - fuelled by scuttlebutt - minimises the need for change and lionises the merits of established practise. Even one's pointy-haired pop-eyed boss with the people skills of Caligula and the IQ of navel fluff is more desirable than The Devil You Don't Know. "But the worst of it all is, like, it's not necessary, y'know?" This expresses the core dilemma facing the Conjuror of Change - denial of the need for change. Add protection of comfort zones and fear of the unknown. But the greatest burden on the change process may be termed recusancy - the wilful refusal to co-operate in inducing change. This is found at all levels and includes - especially at higher executive levels - organised lobbying of the CEO to abandon or modify the change program. The CEO must have the spiritual integrity, drive and energy both to continue day-to-day management while at the same time providing the leadership and determination to bring the change program to where it should be. Change is constant in the real world - making it a constant in the workplace is a very good idea. Only an enlightened flexibility can keep your organisation aligned with the realities of the world it exists to serve. |
The Solution:Magic would be good! Meantime - until the Conjurer of Change arrives - these are the essentials - |
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Sell the need! Tell them how! Keep the faith! Make change constant! Have HiBrasil manage your change needs! |
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 Communicating Effective Organisational Change http://hibrasil.biz |
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