Sheikh Younous Iqbal
ARTICLE (December 18 2008): One thing that is new is the prevalence of newness, the changing scale and scope of change itself, so that the world alters as we walk in it, so that the years of man's life measure not some small growth or rearrangement or moderation of what he learned in childhood, but a great upheaval.
To assail the changes that have unmoored us from the past is futile, and in a deep sense, I think, it is wicked. We need to recognise the change and learn what resources we have. Robert Oppenheimer. There is an old parable about the grasshopper that decided to consult the hoary consultant of the animal kingdom, the owl, about a personal problem.
The problem concerned the fact that grasshopper suffered each winter from acute pains due to the savage temperature. The grasshopper tried all known remedies but of no avail. At last he presented his case to the venerable and wise owl. The owl, after patiently listening to grasshopper's misery, offered a simple solution. 'Simply turn yourself into a cricket, and hibernate during the winter.
The grasshopper jumped joyously away. Overwhelmed with too much ecstasy, the ignorant grasshopper was not sure that this spell wasn't going to last forever. However, after discovering that this important knowledge could not be transformed into action, the grasshopper returned to the owl and asked him how he could perform this metamorphosis. The owl replied curtly, " look, I gave you the principle. It's up to you to work out the details!"
WHERE IS THE ERROR?The grasshopper, supplicant, comes to the expert owl for help. The owl listens to the problem, prescribes a solution, and terminates the relationship. The owl did not discuss implementation or consequences of his therapy, nor did he seem to understand the dependence of the client, nor did he recognise the transference in the relationship.
The owl simply offered a rational solution. The main point what we try to emphasise is, it depends to a great extent on the nature of the relationship between the client and change agent. Our job, as men of knowledge, is not to weep or laugh, but to understand. Spinoza.
First we should diagnose, is everything ok? Are we doing fine? Our direction as an organisation is right? The bottom line is achievable or not. Where do we stand if we compare ourselves with the competitors? After understanding all this we can intervene and do something drastic for the business's improvement. There is a basic question that who is going to decide that the change is inevitable? The sole answer is only the thinking CEO with a vision can decide.
The leader can easily start all this with the help of three basic modes of intervention. If he proceeds accordingly with sheer determination and a strong commitment he would be definitely able to steer the ship to the shore through the stormy waters in a safe and sound way.
THE MODES OF INTERVENTION ARE MENTIONED BELOW:
1. Planning new structures and new processes
2. Re-education
3. New philosophy
Numerous studies indicate that as many as two-thirds of all restructuring and reengineering efforts fail in some way, including living up to expectations. Change is generally precipitated by serious crisis, or a severe downturn in a company's economic performance - that destabilises the situation and shakes the very foundation of accepted practices.
A leader may then appear with a vision of how to deal with this crisis, clothed in high sounding, idealistic rhetoric for example clarion call by the CO to make every business number one or number two in its field. How can anyone disagree with such noble goals?
RE-ENGINEERING - SO JUST WHAT IS IT? Re-engineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to make dramatic improvements in their performance. Says Michael Hammer, a former professor at MIT: To succeed at re-engineering, you have to be visionary, a motivator, and a leg breaker.
Change is the only constant in today's business. Yet many companies do a less than-spectacular job of managing in-house change initiatives, or responding to changes in the external business environment. Generally the change should be created, implemented, evaluated, maintained, and finally it should be resisted.
WE NEED IT BADLY A day comes when the leader of the organisation has to communicate to all the senior managers that something needs to be done immediately otherwise all will be over. The change agents should be well prepared about what, how, and when to be delivered. Most people do not have any grounds to disagree but they do not openly, perhaps, but behind those heavy doors that guard the corridors of power.
The naysayers may simply have an honest difference of opinion, or they may be afraid of change, or perhaps they detest the leader who's spearheading the change process. The more the leader pushes, the harder they resist. The change agents have to work till the change is settled. And of course there should be an evaluation of all that.
The most crucial part of planning successful transformation efforts is, assessments. Of course, they are only a starting point for actually doing the work.You do need a set of operating guidelines with that you can manage your change plans and this can also help you to stay on track.
WAYS AND MEANS TO ACHIEVE WHAT IS DESIRED A leader with the intelligent use of power can only apply intervention modes. In modern organisation, power refers to the various methods available to a leader to achieve alignment or change or re-engineering. The raw exercise of power often produces gridlock.
A leader must learn to rely on more subtle methods of influence, but these require a thorough knowledge of human nature. Eventually, a leader may try to side-step the stubborn opposition by appealing to rest of his constituency. The goal is to create a critical mass of support that will make the change process irreversible. Remember that the ultimate goal of power in producing organisational change is the alignment, nothing less.
There are so many ways you can utilise the power in order to achieve the desired goal. The most crucial element is to select that what sort of power you are going to exercise. And be sure that this is going to give to an organisation the desired outcome, "Leaders in cellular technology" or "Becoming the best in the business".
One has to be very intelligent and keen observer of the human psychology. Take my words, an iota of negligence can create an impending disaster. Interestingly if the change sets in the whole business will flourish and leader gets the due and if he comes across a failure only he will perish.
The most undesirable situation a leader wants is the covert defiance and resistance among individuals at a subordinate position, which is the exact opposite of alignment. The ultimate authority that lies with the leader is the ability to fire the employees. This coercive use of power is only applicable when all tricks had been tried.
We may try to bring a change in a formal way as well. Sometimes authority comes with an individual's role. The result may be the managers may resent, what they are being asked to do, unless they can be shown that it will serve their interests and produce impressive results. Expert power can be a necessary ingredient in the alignment process. It's kind of teacher student relationship.
Teacher believes that he knows something that the student does not, and that's why the student is always willing to be influenced and led by him. Effective leaders can have similar impact on subordinates. A leader can also set a moral example first, that may prove contagious to the team. It normally happens that the CO often tries to seize by wrapping his directives in the inspirational language.
The best tool available is one must have a clear 'vision' statement. eg "Leaders in cellular technology" "Become the best in our business". And if the crisis like situation is around the corner then the leader can shake this all by the wake up call, "Rescuing the company from impending disaster."
Awareness is the only hope that can be the guiding light for those who are on the road to success. That requires living in the here and now, and not in the elsewhere. The knowing people are always alive to their surroundings. Because they know how they feel, where they are. We must hope that the awareness should be there from the CO down to the parking man.
Sometimes power derives from the people who endorse a leader and his methods. You are willing to be influenced and led by him because he is accepted by a group of people whom you value and respect. "Please do it for me." Time and time again we do this unconsciously. Relationship power depends on such attributes as an individual's charm, charisma, sense of humour, and positive reputation among colleagues.
WATCH OUT And one should remain conscious of the fact that all that glitters is not gold. Better beware of the pitfalls you may have to face while in the process of re-engineering. One can still sail smooth well avoiding the pitfalls in a very professional way. Most of the companies do fall in the trap of re-engineering myth or change dilemma. You know what actually happens.
Apparently everything seems ok but all of a sudden storm rises and to everyone's utter surprise "everything is lost". Take care of the following points:
1. Honestly investing heavily in information technology is not the solution. It may deliver the most disappointing results largely because the companies tend to mechanise the old processes with the help of new technology. It is almost like adding an engine to a bullock cart.
The re-engineering guru Michael Hammer says "we should "reengineer" our businesses: use the power of modern information technology to radically redesign our business processes in order to achieve dramatic improvements in their performance."
2. Reengineering is neither possible in parts nor it can be planned meticulously. There is no percentage achievement in reengineering it's an all or nothing proposition with an uncertain result. Do not be incremental. Do not think 5 percent or 10 percent improvement. Think 100 percent.
3. Beware of the false indicators of success. It is far much easy to get initial or short-term indicators of success with change efforts, which may, in some cases, mask problems or imbalances in your reengineering approach.
4. As we know that we have to radically redesign the processes and we should do this all by adopting a clean slate approach. One should avoid being simpler while redesigning. People usually fall in the trap while being simpler. This is a myth you know that everything looks difficult in the beginning but soon as we are into this, it becomes simple. I would like to quote Albert Einstein, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler".
5. Spot the SPHINX.As we know that in the process of reengineering all the empires have to fall down. The CO should remain conscious or should I say vigilant enough to closely monitor all the moves made by the Emperors, who are about to lose their domains.
These power hungry rancorously spiteful dictators sting in the backs of the change agents with their full venom. And the front runners or the flag bearers of the change are sometimes lost, lost in the way. These are the people who can really evaluate the change, and also resist it.
6.One should always act outside-in. The only way you can look at your operations is, through the eyes of customers, suppliers, shareholders, consumers, and society. Do not think or act inside-out.
7.Too many change efforts falters today because a company tries to change it's employee's beliefs, values and work schedules rather than changing their everyday behaviour on the job. Consultants recommend basic changes in company's culture, a lengthy and difficult process. Peter F. Drucker has better advice, "Don't change culture, change habits".
That can be achieved only by pragmatism. Set new, usually faster standards for all your operations so that those who can not change must be exposed and finally thrown out. To truly assess the success of any change, you need to take a broad and balanced approach to grade your success. We can do this by promoting teamwork as an initial need for real change to be realised and sustained over time.
As you proceed with change efforts, how do you assess that how well are you doing? It is critically important that you regularly monitor the climate of alignment emerging in your organisation. So, it's vital to conduct periodically new change readiness assessments. These can give you a bead on the factors that are enhancing or impeding your change plans.
They can thus help you determine whether a change initiative is on track, has lost momentum or has derailed completely. Managing complex change efforts requires a sophisticated awareness of the myriad factors that can impact an organisation's vitality, profitability and operating effectiveness.
Using a diagnostic assessment tool and a robust methodology to understand and analyse organisational dynamics provides a cornerstone approach not just for managing change initiatives, but for ensuring that they are successfully sustained over the long term. I would like to quote George Bernard Shaw, "Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds, can not change anything".
(The writer is Chief Officer Sales and Distribution at Ufone (PTML)
