Jul

23

Three Principles of Change

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Transform

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Dick Richards of the blog Come Gather Round provides the following three principles that assist in the leadership of change:

  1. In the realm of human activity, things change only after they are accepted for what they are. This principle is a slight variation of The Paradoxical Theory of Change. At a very simple level, the principle was illustrated when my wife and I decided to change our kitchen countertop only after we accepted the fact that the countertop that was in our home when we moved in was ugly and getting uglier….. That things change in the realm of human activity only after they are accepted for what they are is the reason that customer and employee satisfaction surveys are important. It is the reason that W. Edwards Deming insisted that fear be driven from the workplace: where there is fear there is likely to be denial or avoidance of what is. It is the reason that a recovering addict must say, “I am an addict.” It is the reason that honest feedback is essential to the growth of a person.
  2. Change occurs as a function of distress, vision, capacity for change, and achievable first steps. This principle was elucidated by Richard Beckhard as the Formula of Change Equation, which has several variations. My own favorite version is this: D x V x C x F > R. The equation shows that change can only occur when the product of distress, D, vision, V, capacity for change, C, and achievable first steps, F, is greater than resistance to change, R. Notice that if any of the four variables on the left of the equation is zero, change is not possible.
  3. People are more likely to act on their own conclusions than on someone else’s. This is one reason that organizational visions, missions, values, and strategies often fall far short in implemention: people are asked to act on someone else’s conclusion. It is why really good coaches and counselors guide clients to their own decisions rather than offer advice. It provides underpinning for permission marketing, quality initiatives, and religious institutions that are based on facilitating inquiry rather than providing answers.

 These three principles are powerful in guiding change. I have often seem change efforts fail when one of these principles are violated, when we fail to accept reality as it is, when we fail to build dissatisfaction with the status quo, when we force our views onto others and when we move too far too fast and those around us don’t have the time reflect and to act on their own conclusions.

 

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4 Responses to “Three Principles of Change”

  1. Charlie on July 28th, 2007 3:25

    It’s true about acceptance. We can’t expect change to happen if people don’t accept it. It’s like giving back the gift given to us which doesn’t count as accepting it.

  2. John Hunter on July 28th, 2007 23:01

    Managing Fear by Gerald Suarez is good resource on the topic of fear and management.

  3. Pamela on July 30th, 2007 3:37

    Great points, especially the third one in which people are asked to act on other people’s conclusion. This is a common misunderstanding on the part of the company and their employees.

  4. Steve Roesler on August 3rd, 2007 17:37

    Thanks for this one, George.

    I spent yesterday with a client reviewing a design for a series of discussions, events, and workshops related to a major change. No matter how long I do this, each time I must remind myself that even the client who initiates the change needs to discuss and accept “changes to the changes” as we work together.

    And I’m really pleased to see the Dick Beckhard reference. He was a strong influence during many workshops years ago at the National Training Laboratories.

    Keep writing with wisdom…

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