Creating Effective Change

Whether looking to solve new problems or to increase efficiency, change is necessary for organizations of all sizes and make-ups. But change is rarely easy, and all too often companies flounder about hoping that rallying cries and motivational speeches will generate the changes required for success. When I work with an organization that is looking to make a shift, I focus my effort on two main areas:

1. What is working and not working at a task level?

What is getting in the way of accomplishing any given task? This is a diagnostic assessment where we identify the true opportunities for change versus the presenting problem. If sales figures are down, that is a presenting problem. The true opportunity is what is getting in the way of making sales. There can be many tasks that need to be examined, and maybe not every task needs changes. Where we find a true opportunity is where we then focus on creating effective change.

2. How is the organization operating?

How are they doing it (or not), and what do they need to do differently? This is less about the details of individual tasks and more about how the overall corporate structure and culture are operating. The sales example above can be fixed with changes at the managerial level, but when we look at a larger organizational problem, we need to look at larger processes to find the opportunities and solutions. Sometimes this means moving the right people into the right roles, sometimes policies have to change, and sometimes it means more significant shifts in the way an organization is structured and operates must be undertaken.

What happens is, all too often, people focus on one or the other. This is usually because most leaders have strengths in only one of these areas. Some leaders are great at identifying problems, and what needs to change, but not so great at figuring out or implementing the actual changes in operations. Some leaders are good at making changes in procedures or policy, but without correctly identifying what needs to change, this can be a wasted or even counterproductive effort. The secret to successful change is to keep both areas in mind.