How to manage and benefit from change.

Great organizations are always changing. I don't mean change for the sake of change, but planned, structured, progressive change that enables organizations to grow, evolve, survive and thrive in any type of marketplace. When discussing change, many questions arise, such as: "How can you leverage and manage change?" "How can you become a change agent who is constantly and proactively preparing for change?" "How can you create a culture where you are able to make change work to your advantage rather than allowing it to destroy you?" The better question is, "Why change?" The answer is reflected in the statements below, adapted from Joseph Rost's Leadership for the Twenty-First Century : *. "Everything that can be invented has been invented." (Charles H. Duell, director of the U.S. Patent Office, 1899) *. "Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote." (Grover Cleveland, 1905) *. "There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom." (Robert Miliham, Nobel Prize in physics, 1923) *. "The horse is here today, but the automobile is only a novelty — a fad." (President of Michigan SavingsBank advising against investing in the Ford Motor Company) *. "Video won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." (Daryl F. Zanuck, 20th Century Fox, commenting on television, 1946) *. "What use could the company makeof an electric toy?" (Western Union, when it turned down rights to the telephone in 1878) Businesses today are experiencing more change than at any time in history, and the pace of change is accelerating. It has taken just 15 years for 25 percent of households to embrace personal computers, 13 years for cell phones, and astoundingly only seven years for the Internet. (Harris, 2002) There are three types of businesses that implement change. The first is the one that is bottomed out. They suddenly realize that the competition has caught up or maybe even surpassed them and are scrambling to make change in their organization in order to get back on track. Unfortunately for these organizations, by then, it is usually too late. They have been blindsided by change, meaning that they were completely focused on the way they had always done business, allowing new and innovative ideas to catch them off-guard and unprepared to compete. The second type of organization changes just enough to maintain the status quo. These are the companies that are doing OK. Business is pretty good. They say to themselves, "Why do we have to change? Change upsets employees, and change upsets the customers." Ultimately, they change only enough to maintain their current status. Eventually, they may find themselves in the position of the first organization, where competitors catch up or surpass them. The third type of organization is the one that embraces and leverages change while creating a culture of change, whereby leaders are encouraged or expected to be change agents. They are continually evaluating their organizational structure and looking for ways to make beneficial organizational change. These organizations use change as a catalyst to drive them forward and to improve their business results. Jack Welch, retired CEO of General Electric, said, "I am convinced that if therate of change inside an organization is less than the rate of change outside, the end is in sight." Even powerful organizations do not usually possess an innate skill for making change. It seems to be something that is learned over the longterm, and it is a painful process for most. Invariably, when we suggest to organizations that they become more effective at change, the reaction is defensive. Comments like, "You have to be kidding! We're great at change. We change all the time. We love change!" The truth is, most organizations are not good at change and are especially lacking in the ability to communicate change to employees in a positive way. Embracing and leveraging change helps companies to maintain competitive advantage. Knowing and facing this fact is the first step in proactively utilizing change to the advantage of the organization. In order to proactively plan for change, ask yourself and your employees the following questions: 1. What are the early warning signs inyour industry that change is inevitable? 2. What systems, structures and processes might you put in place tomaintain competitive advantage over your competitors and avoid being blindsided? 3. How can you understand the thinking of demographic groups not represented in your organization? 4. If you were your own competitor, how could you catch up to or surpass your company? 5. What customer requests seem the most outrageous and impossible? If you were to consider meeting these requests, what would you have to change to accomplish this task? 6. What technologies have recently been announced that could threaten your business? Be the change you plan to be. The world is seeking for a change like you.