Smart Business Magazine, April 2020

8 Smart Business April 2020 A gradual shift Why continuous improvement may be preferable to change management Before change management was fashionable note researchers Linda Ackerman Anderson and Dean Anderson organizational leaders determined what needed to be changed then delegated the implementation to others Eventually when transformation failed or became more critical leaders surmised that success required their direct attention and involvement This insight according to the Andersons gave rise to the field of change management Its ascension was tangible proof that executives recognized that a new approach to introducing change was required The use of a specific management system could instruct a leader on how to attend to change more thoughtfully and carefully But 45 percent of companies are still not experienced in any system of change management based on a report from the University of North Carolina The weakness of existing change management systems and perhaps the reason that many companies do not have experience with them is that almost all of the models view change as episodic and peripheral requiring separate strategies from ordinary operations In a study of the eight most popular change management systems Ben Mulholland concluded that all are time consuming and require additional resources and expertise often not available internally Some are top down approaches that run the risk of alienating associates by appearing not to value their expertise Others conversely are bottom up approaches making it difficult to attain high level change Still others are generalized checklists lacking specificity in developing actionable steps timelines or conditions for advancement Leaders cannot afford to waste time and effort learning and applying techniques that may have little value Most organizational change efforts take longer and cost more money than leaders anticipate so failure can be costly and for some emotionally draining Continuous improvement is a more appropriate way to operate in an environment in which change is both constant and pervasive All of the benefits of change management especially dealing with monumental change or urgency can be accomplished through processes that also emphasize change within the context of regular organizational needs and operations In this process transformation is gradual It focuses on improving existing strategy practices and products It is well measured grounded and precise Because it is gradual and anticipated resistance is often not an issue even when large change is necessary And it takes committed leaders who believe that change like operating an organization is the responsibility of everyone Certainly change management systems have the potential to foster nuanced conversion and many have been beneficial in addressing significant changes in certain organizations However continuous improvement is a more natural approach to leading ongoing change It is an approach that creates a culture focused on gradual improvement over time rather than addressing change sporadically In upcoming columns we will explore what this type of change looks like and how it can be put into practice Change management has become a universally applied term in organizational development but with 70 percent of transformations failing according to McKinsey and Co it may be time to look beyond existing change management models CLOSING THE GAP ALEX JOHNSON ALEX JOHNSON PH D President Cuyahoga Community College Alex focuses on strengthening the colleges more than 50 year mission of providing high quality accessible and affordable educational opportunities and services Since becoming president in July 2013 he has promoted access equity success and completion for the nearly 60000 credit and noncredit students who attend Tri Cs eight campuses and centers throughout Greater Cleveland each year 216 987 4851 alex johnson@ tri c edu www tri c edu