Intelligent Manufacturing € July € 1995 € Vol. 1 € No. 7

Are You Afraid of Change?

By Terence T. Burton

Like it or not, we are all responsible for the current conditions in our organizations, as well as leading the desired changes to ensure future success. The paradox about change is that, at one level, people want to change or wish things would change. At the same time, on another level, they are the first to resist change. Far too many intelligent manufacturing efforts focus on the techniques, and neglect the people aspects of permanent change.

One of the most interesting phenomena is living with an organization that is reengineering itself and implementing breakthrough change. The process of assimilating breakthrough change always follows a common evolution. In the first stage, there is avoidance because change has become synonymous with downsizing, less time and more work. Then there is denial, disbelief and rationalization for the "as is." Then there is competition, where change is ridiculed and violently opposed until proven otherwise.

The early successes of change begin to build momentum, and success breeds more success. Next is the realization that organizations can learn and benefit from change, rather than wait and become victims of change. Finally, change has become so self-evident that organizations become nervous about the lack of change. People believe that change and success are synonymous, and change can be managed at any velocity, magnitude, scope or frequency.

The way that most organizations react to breakthrough change during this evolution is by raising their fear barriers, of which there are four major categories:

1. Leadership Barriers. These include actions such as detached involvement; delegation of change to a staff organization; visible failure in walking the talk; or being the first person to pull the change plug in favor of short-term results. One executive recently said in confidence, "I'm all for change as long as I don't have to change."
   
   Leadership barriers are typically caused by a lack of strategic direction and a low commitment to breakthrough change. Breakthroughs are usually the result of "out-of-box" thinking or serendipitous opportunities that strategic planning and benchmarking had not considered. Management cannot visualize a new company or a totally new way of conducting business.
   
   
2. Technology Barriers. These barriers include edicted changes, bandwagon programs, the appearance of progress via lots of activities, or the perception of change with no results. Technology barriers are caused by a lack of knowledge about needs, a poorly aligned implementation/deployment process, and an unclear definition of performance and business success. The outcome: a jumble of behaviors and resources going off in different directions, and no results.
   
   An organization may have an excellent strategy, but lacks the technical skills required to implement breakthrough change. Motion is not progress, and knowing the difference between the two is critical to success.
   
   
3. Organizational/Cultural Barriers. Many of these barriers exist in organizations that find a level of comfort by following structured organizational charts, defining functional responsibilities via rigid procedures, or managing within strict approval guidelines. These barriers exist because people view the organization as a set of departments with a hierarchical ladder. There is a fear of control which encourages inaction until the correct approval is granted.
   
   Management talks empowerment but is reluctant to empower, which means giving away power. Employees want empowerment, but they are not ready for the responsibilities of being empowered. People have not been allowed to operate outside of these traditional models; they "bunker down" and wait for direction and instructions from a higher authority. In a breakthrough change process, they have difficulty viewing the organization as a boundary-less, fluid set of critical processes that link and deploy resources to produce customer success.
   
   
4. Individual Belief Barriers. These include a lack of self-confidence to lead and manage change due to a lack of knowledge and skills, a belief that it can't be done, the intellectual battle scars from previous attempts at change, or a strong presence of the other fear barriers. Personal beliefs and perceptions gained through previous experiences determine these barriers. Culture and performance/reward systems also play a crucial role in shaping individual beliefs. The organization wants to change, but the people who comprise the organization are not ready for change.

Increasing Organizational Intelligence
The "fear barriers matrix" provides additional symptoms, root causes and solutions for dealing with these barriers. There is no magic set of answers, and the means of dealing with fear barriers must be tailored to the organization's culture, its core competencies and skill sets, its critical business needs, and the personalities of executives and senior management. The key is that fear barriers must be dealt with as soon as they are discovered because they are notorious for throwing a breakthrough change process off track (see sidebar).

Fear barriers are created by people, and they can only be removed by people. Permanent breakthrough change doesn't happen until people are willing to accept and embrace change. Knowing how to recognize and manage people through their fear barriers is a critical, but most often overlooked aspect, of intelligent manufacturing and breakthrough change.

Dispensing with Fear

Taking time to answer the following questions will help to break down the fear barriers in your organization:

• Has the recognition for breakthrough change been established and supported by industry benchmarks and best practices? Is there a genuine "change or die" mindset?
• Is there a shared vision of breakthrough improvement including specific breakaway needs and potential benefits?
• What is the plan for communicating the breakthrough change process to employees?
• Can you describe how the "reengineered" company operates? What are the new business features, attributes and detailed design elements of the end-to-end implementation blueprint?
• What is the definition of reengineering or breakthrough success, and how will you know you are achieving success in real time?
• Are there knowledge gaps in the organization's core competencies and skill set inventory?
• How will resources be organized and deployed to support both day-to-day needs and breakthrough change?
• What types of education and training programs are being developed to address the technology, organizational/cultural and individual belief barriers?