The future of change management

Sometimes you come across something inspiring, which makes total sense to you. I had a moment like that when I heard the Dutch BNR podcast of Ben Tiggelaar with Arend Ardon. They reflected on classic change management theory, leadership & behavior. My main take away? “Change happens in the here and now”.

In classic change management theory, you create a plan and make sure people follow the plan. If people don’t follow, we usually think it’s problematic. We call that resistance. But, according to Ardon, it’s a myth that people resist to change. We either create resistance, or we sustain it. It becomes a self-fullfilling prophecy then.

Also, the goal of this change plan is usually not to create any followers or to create a culture of following. Mostly, we’re looking for pro-active, entrepreneurial people. The kind that won’t do as you say anyway. Therefore, Ardon states that true change management is solely about leaders creating more leaders instead of followers.

What if you don’t create a plan, but from your leadership perspective create an environment where people can grow and flourish? Where they dare to stick out their neck and to stand for their vision? As a change management consultant you can contribute to sustainable change, instead of going from assignment to assignment.

Ardon states that behavior of people is essential. Because culture is what you do in the here and now. And you achieve change by breaking behavioral patterns. So we have to let go of the change management where we try to manage other people’s behavior. One of Ardon’s biggest learnings was that change happens via social infection. We copy people we identify with all the time. With small changes in behavior, change could get accelerated through an entire organization.

An example from my own experience. I had an assignment in a changing organization, where people explicitly asked for more communication and transparency. A weekly start-up was initiated on Monday morning, for the management to share news. Every employee was welcome to share news or knowledge too. But people were hesitant to share, it wasn’t natural to them. So many start-ups got cancelled. Which led to dissatisfaction.

I was part of a program, that impacted a significant part of the organization. So I decided to lead by example. And made sure that I had something to share every week. Didn’t matter how big or small, I just shared something. Sometimes I received some questions and there was some interaction. Many times it was pretty awkward, because nobody else would share something. But after a couple of weeks, suddenly I wasn’t the only one up there. And after a few more weeks, I didn’t have to get up ‘on stage’ any more. Because there was plenty to share, obviously. Awesome to witness that!

Very simple example, yet essential, according to Ardon. As a follow up, leaders should highlight these small initiatives and celebrate them. To encourage even more people to act within their own circle of influence. The biggest results start with small actions.

Ardon’s biggest learning? As leader it’s evident you shouldn’t just manage, implement, handle or push. It’s crucial to show yourself. Because then you will move away from classic (change) managing to showing leadership. That requires courage and vulnerability. And suddenly it’s not about theories of classic change management any more. But about real people who try to achieve something together. And, if you ask me, that’s the future of change management.

Please find the BNR podcast of Ben Tiggelaar and Arend Ardon here. Note: spoken language is Dutch.