A week since the last post, and time to take a look at the change process in the context of recent events. Unemployment is up again, although the rate of increase is moderating. Several states, Michigan among them, are struggling to pass a balanced budget (required by law in many places) in the face of increasing needs and decreasing revenue. The easy or obvious choices have been made already, in Michigan’s case years ago. Now, elected officials know they have to pass a budget that, frankly, is going to anger a lot of people, and those people vote. Even less fun than usual for elected officials.
The first phase of the change process is, really, the belief that no change is best. Often referred to as “Pre-contemplation of change,” this group has gotten a lot smaller in the past year or so. Most of us now believe that we are going to be doing a lot of things differently in the near-term future. Many of us now believe we really must do a lot of things differently. Nearly all of us have some things that we do not want to change. Of course, we don’t agree about what we do not want to change, which makes the ongoing debate interesting.
The second phase of change is often called “Contemplating Change.” In this phase we now have decided that change is nesessary; not just desireable We haven’t been able to decide exactly what to do and/or how to do it, but most of us agree that the U. S. healthcare system needs reform (for example). We will eventually decide the what and how issues in a compromise yet to be determined.
The third phase of the process is sometimes referred to as “Preparing to Change,” and occurs once we have figured out what we are going to do. We may not yet understand the how of the change, but we are actively looking for ways to make the change. It is generally accepted that the financial systems and national economies through the world are interrelated and intertwined and have become dangerously under-regulated over the past several decades. We seem to be exploring some alternatives and have begun talking seriously about how to best effect a restructing of the financail system. And some new regulations have already been developed and are or soon will be in effect.
The “Active Change” part of the process is all about implementation, fine-tuning, training, practice, and course correction. By the time we get to his stage in the change process we have changed a good deal. We may have some false starts and back-sliding along the way. We adjust what we are doing the “new way” as we learn more about operating in a new manner. This part of the process is often a case of two steps forward and one step backwards, especially when the old way of doing things wasn’t overwhelmingly painful. The downsizing and restructuring of General Motors is actively underway now, although not yet complete. The attempt to sell the Saturn brand to Roger Penske did not turn out as originally planned, so the brand will be shut down. I’m sure the leaders at GM did not want to shutter all those Saturn dealerships, but they “course corrected” as best they could.
The final stage in the change process is often referred to as “Consolidation & Maintenance” and occurs once we have embraced the new way of doing things. There may be an occasional slip backward, but at this point we are cleaning up the loose end, making final tweaks and adjustments, and getting the new approach fully installed in “the way we do things around here.” Too often we neglect to fully integrate the new way of getting things done; it requires continued effort until the new pattern is fully ingrained in our indivdual or organizational behavior.
Next time: Mental Models & Change
October 6, 2009
Categories: Communities, Economics, Leadership, The Future, Trends . . Author: Knudstrup Paul . Comments: Leave a Comment