As a thought leader, author, educator, and change leadership practitioner, I write a weekly article that benefits leaders who want to improve their organizations using elements of my Humanist Manufacturing framework.
We wrap up our exploration of the change process by Dr. John P. Kotter with the need to institute the change. After all the work to reach this point, ensuring that the new desired behaviors become deeply rooted is essential. Only then will the organization realize the success of accomplishing improved results.
A quick review of the change process is the 8 Steps to Accelerate Change eBook by Dr. John P. Kotter. The steps are now known as accelerators that include:
1. Create a sense of urgency
2. Build a guiding coalition
3. Form a strategic vision and initiatives
4. Enlist a volunteer army
5. Enable action by removing barriers
8. Institute change
Success in Accelerators 1-7 sets the stage for instituting the change to move the organization toward achieving its vision.
Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed – the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day. – Frances Hesselbein
The former chief executive of the Girl Scouts, Frances Hesselbein, shares the importance of instituting long-term change. The workforce must work together in alignment with the discipline of a military air demo team to achieve the organization's new culture. Leadership must work to define and communicate the connections of organizational success to the work done to develop new behaviors. All company members must collectively embrace revised employee actions and altered behaviors to improve organizational performance.
Organizations face a wide range of challenges when implementing change. A company will typically invest several years to change its culture. These efforts must contribute to strategic results that allow it to implement new processes and systems that move them toward the company's vision. Doing so will enable the organization to work with agility, innovation, and speed in our ever-challenging and fast-paced business world.
Many of the actions taken to work through the first seven accelerators are the same ones that will allow the organization to embed fully the new culture. Change leaders at all company levels must continue communicating effectively and efficiently through the traditional organizational hierarchy and the volunteer army. The positive aspects of the former culture will carry forward while eliminating undesirable ones by replacing them with new practices that align with the company vision. A regular audit schedule will allow leaders to encourage those employees that commit to the new culture. Those employees that are not can receive corrective action appropriately.
The recommendation of regular audits aligns with a previous article on Gemba, a Japanese word that translates to "the real place." Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System, would reject the idea of leaders making decisions on numbers alone. Instead, he would expect them to physically go to the workplace before making final decisions. Going to the area of interest allows leaders to observe, learn and understand, thus leading to the more significant potential to make more informed decisions. The only way to know that the new culture is becoming infused throughout the organization is a willingness to go everywhere across the organization and fully engage with its employees.
We wrap up our exploration of the change process by Dr. John P. Kotter with the need to institute the change. Organizations face a wide range of challenges when implementing change. The only way to know that the new culture is becoming infused throughout the organization is to go everywhere across the organization and fully engage with its employees.
Individuals interested in exploring ways to anchor the new culture can read Embedding Change. The article includes the chicken and pig metaphor related to levels of breakfast commitment. Several examples of incentives can lead to more profound employee commitment to the desired change.
I am grateful for the current opportunity to engage with a company integrating a lean culture in their organization. The plant manager has made his way through some necessary personnel changes. They are now a leadership team embracing the opportunity to develop a lean operations culture.
Next week's blog will shift to a review of essential elements integral to becoming a humanist manufacturing organization.
To learn more about our work or read more blog posts, visit emmanuelstratgicsustainability.com.
I encourage you to read my book Humanist Manufacturing: A Humanitarian Approach to Excellence in High-Impact Plant Operations. The paperback and eBook versions are now available at Amazon and many other booksellers. You can also view the Humanist Manufacturing Book Launch to gain additional insight into the Humanist Manufacturing framework.
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