Institutionalise new approaches – embed your learning

Institutionalise your gainsSo here we are on Kotter’s eighth step “Institutionalise the new approaches”. What does he mean by this?

Well, your “As Was”  organisation had structures, personnel practices, reward and recognition systems and lots of other processes and systems that were designed for the old world. Unless these are changed there is likely to be a tendency to regress and to slip back into the old ways.

The last part of this phase of your change program must be to ensure that the support processes in your organisation reinforce the new ways of doing things and work against the old ways of doing things. Continue to articulate the benefits of the new status quo and work relentlessly to embed new habits throughout the organisation.

Remember those people who were critical in helping move you forward? Make sure that their commitment and drive is rewarded, after all, they are the very people that you may need to your next significant organisational change.

Nobody ever said that change was easy, at least nobody who was ever involved in it said so. But having John Kotter’s eight steps in mind you stand a much better chance of being effective in your change program, but always remember that there are a planning tool not a tool for producing a plan. Good luck in all your efforts and watch out for the next series on change leadership.

Consolidate your gains – complete the jigsaw

Consolidate changes - complete the jigsawYou’re on your way, the benefits of the change are becoming visible, so now is the time to planning yet more change!

Remember that earlier when I said “Do what you can, where you can, when you can”? Now is the time to look for what else you can change, where else you can change and when else you can change it.

The increased credibility of the change program allows you to look at systems, structures and policies that don’t fit the vision; to hire, promote and develop employees who can implement the vision and to reinvigorate the process with new projects, new areas for improvements and new change agents. You are building the momentum and extending your influence to different areas of the organisation.

My only word of caution is to be avoid trying to do too much too soon. Now, there is no known algorithm for establishing how much you can do and so you need to be listening to the rumblings at ground level-are they welcoming these new initiatives as complementary to what is already happening or is resistance building rather than reducing? Always remember that you need to be able to explain how your latest initiative is just another part of the big jigsaw represented by the vision. You started with the pieces that were easy to connect together, you are now starting to fill in the gaps and make sure that the parts of the jigsaw being worked on by different people connect together efficiently.

Positivity is infectious

I met a colleague of mine, Chris Edwards, in Leeds yesterday. Chris has overseen a fundamental transformation and improvement of education throughout Leeds over the last 10 years and is now out on his own looking for opportunities to help the world. I always find my time with Chris inspirational – he is irrepressibly positive and upbeat, his favourite word is “brilliant” and his belief in people, especially children, is awesome. We talked a lot about beliefs and how the beliefs that parents embed in their children can either help or hinder them.

I would never dream of telling my four-year-old granddaughter that the picture of a tree that she has just presented me with looks nothing like a tree and that she cannot draw. It seems almost intuitive to me that constant negative messages are likely to leave her believing that she is no good and lo and behold she will be no good. Chris tells me that there is some research that shows that the lowest performing children have parents who give them eight times as many negative messages as positive and the highest performers have parents who give them eight times as many positive messages as negative.

If this makes so much difference the children, then why not adults as well? If you work with anyone, and you don’t have to manage them you simply have to work with them, then perhaps you might like to check how often you praise them versus how often you give negative feedback. Yoou DO give feedback don’t you?

And what about yourself? What about that self talk that constantly goes on inside our heads? Is yourself talk supportive or destructive? Do you believe in yourself? Do you believe that you can take things on and do a good job or is everything too difficult? Self belief is all-important. As Henry Ford once said

whether you believe you can
or you believe you cannot
you are probably right

Believe in others, believe in yourself and be sure to give yourself and others great feedback.