Change is not a new thing. On a people level, it’s dynamic. When you look at your life from birth to where you are now, you are not the same person. We rarely label our life’s journey as change. Look at the change you have personally gone through and continue to go through, each day of your life, with every experience you go through. Since your birth, you have definitely changed physically and mentally, as well as behaviourally, attitudinally, characteristically, and in many other ways. Businesses are made up of people who come from all walks of life, with many and varied life experiences that have influenced the type of people they have become. Some people have come from privilege, some from poverty, some from war-torn countries, some from broken families, some currently going through painful life experiences, some who have never known or experienced love, and many more variations.

With such a mix of people in businesses, it’s clear to see how complex organisational cultures can become. Despite these cultural complexities, organisations also have to evolve to survive.  To evolve they need to make changes. An organisation cannot simply desire to change and then start. All people who have acquired an academic qualification have followed a structured learning programme. Pilots, Firemen, Surgeons, Teachers, Miners, Tunnel builders, etc., all follow structured ways to deliver the skills of their professions. Without organisation’s following a change management model, the success of those changes is nothing more than hope and blind luck. There are many change models that can be applied, depending on the needs of the organisation, namely: Kotter’s theory; Lewin’s change management model; Nudge theory; The McKinsey 7-S model; Bridges’ transition model; ADKAR;Kübler-Ross’ change curve; and The Satir change management model. Follow the links to learn more.

When considering major transformations of large organisations, they normally focus their attention on devising the best strategic and tactical plans. To succeed however, and encourage the desired results, organisations need to have an intimate understanding of the human aspect of change management – the alignment of the organisation’s culture, values, people, and behaviours. You cannot capture values with plans. Values are realised only through the sustained, collective actions of the employees (in their hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands) who are responsible for designing, executing, and living with the changed environment.

I came across these videos on you tube, and I thought they were worth sharing. They convey how to lead change management so well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=151&v=gficoigz1xs– Published on 16 Feb 2016 by Strategy&Business, discussing that atits worst, culture can be a drag on productivity, at its best, it’s an emotional energizer and how companies can use it to gain a competitive advantage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=240&v=PQ0doKfhecQ– Published on 9 Jun 2014 byDeAnne Aguirre, senior partner with Strategy&Business, discusses techniques that can help companies transform quickly and effectively.