The Ever Changing Organization

Creating the Capacity for Continuous Change, Learning, and Improvement

Gerald R Pieters

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351410595
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Gestione
• Index: Business

If you are: overwhelmed by the amount of change and the difficulty in making it happen, finding failure - or limited success - with the implementation of changes, disappointed in the growth or financial performance of your organization, and are looking for a strategy for improving your organization's capacity for planned and proactive change, this book is for you.
The world is continuing to change at a rapid pace, while most organizations are focused on maintaining stability and certainty. The price of this growing gap is the diversion of limited resources to reactive, fire-fighting behaviors and the inability to lead and be proactive. Allowing the gap to continue to grow is the formula for failure, this book gives you the formula for success.
In The EverChanging Organization, the authors present a model of the EverChanging Organization(ECO). This is a systems model for understanding an organization's needed capacity for change in a range of change orientations from change averse to change seeking. The book includes diagnostic scales, tools for assessing need and status as an ECO, and a process for selecting and implementing change initiatives to achieve the needed capacity for change in timely and cost effective ways.

1 Introduction to the Ever-Changing Organization

For many years we have heard the expression “There’s nothing more certain than death and taxes!” It now seems prudent to add the idea of the certainty of change to that expression. Even the 1RS, the agency that deals with our taxes throughout our life and after our death, is being threatened with fundamental change in the tax code they administer as well as with congressional action to force modification of approaches based on fear and intimidation of the taxpayer. Who would’ve thought?

I. Leaders and the Ever-Changing Organization

If ongoing change is a certainty, it behooves the leaders of organizations to examine how they are designed and managed to cope with change — explore the extent to which the organization must become more capable of dealing with change— become aware of the conditions in the organization that support or inhibit change. The model of the Ever-Changing Organization (ECO) in this book is designed to help leaders do just that.

Organizations vary dramatically in their capacity for continuous change, learning, and improvement. Many books on the subject of change place their primary emphasis on the role of the leader or on processes for managing a particular change activity. This book goes beyond how individual change activities are managed. It goes beyond the role of the leader. In this book we are concerned with the characteristics of the overall design of organizations that build capacity for change. In particular, with more change happening all the time, we are concerned with situations in which growth in capacity for change, learning, and improvement lags the increase in the rate of change the organization must handle.

A key premise of the book is that most organizations, no matter how they are currently put together, must increase their capacity for change to avoid getting out of sync with the accelerating change in their outside world. Gaps are growing between the way the organization is currently set up to cope with change and the rates of change that will be experienced in the predictably near future. Understanding what defines an ECO, how to assess the current and future needs of an organization for functioning as an ECO, and how to plan and implement the changes necessary to move towards becoming an ECO are the primary focuses of this book.

II. A Snapshop Look at ECO Need and Status

Setting an organization on a course to develop greater capability as an Ever-Changing Organization involves a substantial commitment. Executives need to approach such a decision with a “gut-level” comfort that it makes sense for their organization. This book has been written to help executives come to grips with their needs for becoming an ECO and determining what it will take to get there. Reading the entire book is an important part of that process. Reading the entire book also requires a commitment of precious time and we hope that you will decide to make that investment. To start you on the journey, we developed a tool to help the reader get an up-front “gut-feel” for the ECO model and how it relates to their organization. An overview of the ECO model is presented in this chapter and a graphic representation of the components of the model is displayed in Figure 1.1. Substantial detail about the model and its major components is covered in the other chapters of the book.

Where the organization needs to be as an ECO is derived from a look at the organization’s current and projected environment. As the environment becomes more complex and uncertain, the need for ECO capabilities increases substantially. Existing levels of ECO capacity are estimated based on the “snapshot” of the other ECO components, i.e., the stabilizing base for coping with increasing turbulence in the environment, how the organization is managing for change, and its processes for continuous improvement and continuous learning. Increasing capacity in these areas aligns the organization more closely with the ECO capacity required in highly uncertain environments. The results of the snapshot diagnosis provide a quick and dirty estimate of need and a general idea of what it would take to move the organization to where it needs to be.

Figure 1.1 Model of the Ever-Changing Organization as a system. Key components are the external environment, a stabilizing base, and the organization’s managing FOR change, continuous improvement and continuous learning processes.

The “snapshot diagnosis” follows, but we offer a few words of caution before proceeding with this brief look ahead. The snapshot involves responding to a single scale regarding complex subjects. The results should be viewed only as a general indicator of where the organization is at the present time. The snapshot, especially before the entire book has been read, can easily be distorted by focus on only one or two aspects of the ECO components. There is also a tendency to respond to each scale with what we want to believe rather than on the basis of what actually exists in the organization. To avoid the latter, the snapshot diagnosis of each ECO component asks you to list facts and observable data that support your rating. The more factual you are the more useful the picture developed from the snapshot as an indicator of needs and status.

Please do not consider the snapshot a substitute for a full ECO diagnosis. The full-blown process described in the chapter on implementation involves detailed analysis of each of the ECO components. It stresses examining actual behaviors, documents, and operating practices. These form a factual basis for a more complete and valid diagnosis. The full process lends more comfort for the decision to proceed and provides more specific guidance for setting direction and prioritizing initiatives. Buy-in to decisions based on the full diagnosis will be greater for management and those who need to support them.

Snapshots of Key Components of the ECO Model

Review the description of each of the components of the Ever-Changing Organization model. Then respond on the extent scale (circle the appropriate point on the scale) to describe how you believe your organization or environment fits the description provided. The existence of ECO capability increases as your organization is more like the description provided for each component. In the space for supporting data list specific, observable behaviors, processes, structures, and ways of operating that you have considered in reaching your conclusion. Be as objective as possible in making your choices, i.e., base them on facts and what really happens vs. what would be good or you would like to believe happens.

Using the Results of Your Snapshot Analysis

First, review the overall scale point you selected to describe your organization’s environment. The more to the right your response, the higher the level of change and uncertainty you are faced with, and the greater your need for higher level ECO status.

Next, examine your snapshot answers regarding the ECO components. Consider the extent to which they are more towards the left than your description of your business environment. The greater the gap, the more likely that your organization is out of alignment with the change capability it needs. And the more likely it is that you will benefit from the more thorough assessment process described in this book.

If you describe your organization as more to the right on the ECO component scales than your description of your environment, it is still important to consider the issue of whether or not a thorough assessment would be helpful. Being too far to the right could mean that you are too flexibly designed and without sufficient structure and control for the environment you live in.

Environmental Snapshot

Our organization’s external environment is subject to substantially more change and uncertainty than that of other organizations. Technological changes force us to be proactive to remain competitive. The need to introduce products or services with advanced technological capabilities has increased. New products or services have shortened life cycles. Customer needs and competitive actions require more rapid and timely development of greater numbers of new products and services.

Customer demands for improvements in areas such as quality, pricing, timeliness of delivery, and ease of use continue to grow. The competitive situation is changing rapidly with advances in technology or new approaches to supporting customer needs. Rapid expansion of opportunities in existing markets or via globalization adds to the complexity of decisions regarding market strategies, allocation of resources, and strategies for competing in unfamiliar cultures.

The growing complexity of the environment creates demands for people with more specialized skills and knowledge and increases the difficulty of achieving coordinated efforts among them. Access to accurate information about the environment and getting feedback regarding the impact of our decisions has become more difficult. Growing concern with the effects of our actions on the environment has raised new issues demanding our attention and resources.

Place a “C” on the scale below to indicate the extent to which the writing above describes the nature of your current environment and an “F” for the extent to which it describes the environment you anticipate in the predictable “future.”

Supporting data for current environment (be as factual as possible):

Supporting data for future environment (be as factual as possible):

Stabilizing Base Snapshot

We have articulated a set of positive values. All members of the organization know these values and their implications for acceptable as well as unacceptable behavior. The values are accompanied by a clear and compelling vision of where the organization is going. The vision is shared and discussed so that everyone understands its meaning and implications for their personal behavior. Measurement systems help track progress towards our vision and development of behavior consistent with our values.

We have deliberately designed our systems, structures, and infrastructure to create the flexibility needed for continuous learning, improvement, and change. Open sharing of information allows everyone to act in the best interests of the organization. Operating practices are tested to assure that they are built on the belief that people can be trusted and not designed to thwart the many because of inappropriate actions of the few. There is a stable base of people who know and are committed to the organization. Clear goals guide the organization. Each person has clear direction that is linked to the organizational direction. All are empowered to act as they see necessary without fear of retribution.

There is a balanced orientation to the needs of all stakeholders, including members of the organization, customers, suppliers, the communities we live in, governmental and regulatory agencies, and the owners of the organization. This balance acknowledges the need for short-term results and continuing performance to high standards but in ways that also preserve our shared values.

The impact of these practices creates stabilizing forces in our increasingly changeable environment. They prevent rigidity and paralysis that inhibit action, but also minimize actions that would create even more destabilizing conditions.

To what extent does the stabilizing base of your organization match the description of the stabilizing base of a fully developed ECO above:

List specific facts supporting your rating:

Managing FOR Change Snapshot

“Focus on the customer” is more than a trite phrase. Assessing customer needs is critical to decision making with respect to product and service development. Customer feedback on performance and service is used to assess trends and to take proactive steps for improvement. Along with customer sensing, other environmental sensing activities support proactive behavior. Surprises that detract from planned activities and consume valuable energy are minimized or avoided.

Change is approached from a systems perspective, considering all key components of the system in change, including its environment. Steps are taken to assure that all of the interconnected pieces of the system are aligned to prevent inconsistencies and confusion. Change is known to produce predictable dynamics. Those involved with changes understand the dynamics and use them to improve change efforts. Plans for change are designed to optimize acceptance, maximize readiness, and assure success.

Instead of being at the mercy of others and having to react to changes introduced or imposed by them, change is seen as a positive strategic weapon. Planning and strategy development processes examine ways to force others to react and allow continuing forward movement by our organization as the leader. Change is viewed as an ally, not as an adversary.

Policies, procedures, and control processes are designed assuming that self-control is more powerful than external control. They are designed to make change easy, eliminate the wasted effort of continuing approvals, encourage individual initiative, and support innovation. Work is designed to include change, learning, and improvement as part of the responsibility of each individual and team. Trained change agents and facilitators, including supervisors, support managing FOR change.

To what extent does your organization manage FOR change in ways that match the description above of the managing FOR change practices of a fully developed ECO?

List specific facts supporting your rating:

Continuous Improvement Snapshot

Continuous improvement is an organization-wide process, managed from the top. Management direction for continuous improvement is clear to all and communicated via goals and time frames for expected results. Ongoing communication of progress and recognition and celebration of successes is common.

The challenge of continuous improvement is part of each person’s job and is focused on understanding and achieving “what’s possible/’ ...