Success impulse: Forget change management!
Can change simply be "managed" or is there more to it than that? Read a new success impulse from our guest columnist Volkmar Völzke.
Often it is important what words you give topics. Examples: Do you talk in the subjunctive or indicative? Do you say "we become" or "we want"? Do you choose superlatives (e.g. "the shortest delivery time") or talk indefinitely ("a short delivery time")?
The point is that in society and in business, terms sometimes become ingrained that suggest a meaning that, on closer examination, makes no sense. "Strategic planning" belongs to this category for me. Because either you develop a strategy, starting from a strong vision, or you plan, starting from the current state. The result of the confusion in many companies is a weak strategy that is nothing more than a continuation of the past.
What "Change Management" Really Means...
I regularly address the importance of language as an important element of leadership. Today, I'm specifically concerned with the misleading term "change management." What's the problem with it?
When you "manage" change, it means you are reactive. Management is not shaping, but controlling. You control and optimize what is happening anyway. This is undoubtedly an important function in companies. But not for change!
Change must be initiated, shaped and led. This has nothing to do with management, but with leadership.
Initiate changes
So if you really want the change (which is doubtful for most change projects, by the way), here's what you do:
- Vision. Lead the change instead of "managing" it. Set a bold vision and design the necessary steps to achieve it. This is often exactly the problem: I see again and again "change projects" with an unclear vision, i.e. where exactly do you want to be after the "change"? What do you want to have achieved? Without a strong vision for the change, you should not start a change project.
- Mindset. Work on the mindset of the people who are to shape the change with you. In my view, inappropriate mindset is the most common reason for unsuccessful change programs. People must be able to clearly identify the emotional reasons for change and then commit to the changes. This is often not an easy task. But if people forget to do this, the change often gets stuck before it has really begun.
- Courage. Take risks. Yes, that's right, you will never achieve real change that means something without risks and setbacks. This does not require "risk management" but leadership that leads through setbacks.
Keep this in mind during the next change and design you the change instead of manage. This is one of the differences between outstanding and mediocre companies.
To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch
