LEADING STRATEGIC
CHANGE
(Black and Gregersen Model)
by
Dr. Chee Kim Loy
Assoc. Professor, UBD
“70% of organizations that
seek strategic change fail”
Black and Gregersen, 2003
Some Salient Facts about Strategic
Change
• Change has never been easy since time
immemorial
• Humans are biologically hard-wired to
resist change – wired to survive, so hang
on to what has worked!!
• The pace, size and complexity of change
are greater than before
• Past successes at managing change is no
guarantee for dealing with future changes
Two Major Approaches to Leading
Strategic Change
• “Organization in” approach
– To strategically change your organization, you
must identify all the organizational levels ( i.e.
structure, processes, functions, etc.) you must
pull in order to change the organization so
that individual change will follow
• “Individual out” approach
– To strategically change your organization, you
must first change individuals
“Individual Out” Approach
• Unlocking individual change starts with
and ends with the mental maps people
carry in their heads - on how they see the
organization and their jobs
• Successful strategic change requires a
focus on individuals and redrawing their
mental maps – i.e. overcoming or break
through their ‘brain barrier”
Crux of the Challenges: The Three
Brain Barriers
• Why, when opportunities or threats stare
people in the face, do people fail to see
the need to change?
• Even when people see the need, why do
they often still fail to move?
• Even when people move, why do they fail
to finish – not going far or fast enough?
Distinctive Features of B-G Model
• A simplifying and focused approach based
on the rationale
– that something is practical only if we can
remember and recall it; and,
– Achieving 80% of the desired results quickly
is much better that never attaining 100%;
– 80% of the targets could be achieved by 20%
of the key factors!!
– The key factors come from mastering the
fundamentals of strategic change
The Fundamentals of Strategic
Change
• Stage 1: Do the right thing and do it well.
• Stage 2: Discover that the right thing is
now the wrong thing!
• Stage 3: Do the new right thing, but do it
poorly at first.
\
• Stage 4: Eventually, do the new right thing
well ( i.e. back to Stage 1 again)
STRATEGIC CHANGE MATRIX
Right Thing
Stage 1
Done
Well
Done
Poorly
Stage 3
Wrong Thing
Stage 2
CONCLUSION
“The fundamental process of change
captures 80% of the strategic change but
to achieve the results we need to confront
the three brain barriers!!”
THE THREE BRAIN
BARRIERS
FAILURE TO SEE!!
THE FIRST BRAIN BARRIER
STRATEGIC CHANGE MATRIX: FAILURE TO SEE
Right Thing
Wrong Thing
Reaction#2: Do even
more of the old right
thing!
Done
Well
Reaction#1
Deny the new reality
Done
Poorly
WHY FAILURE TO SEE?
• Blinded by the light of what we already
see!
– History of success (or customary practices)
that work well creates mental maps in us
which filter out anything that does not fit our
mental maps
• These mental maps keeps people from
seeing impending threats & opportunities;
hence make no efforts to change!!
THE KEYS TO ‘SEEING’
• CONTRAST, and
• CONFRONTATION
– Leaders have to confront their people with the
key contrasts between the past, present, and
the future
CIRCLES OF CONTRAST
SHARP CONTRAST!! VERY NOTICEABLE
CIRCLES OF CONTRAST
CONTRAST LESSENS…LESS NOTICEABLE
Why People Can’t See the
Contrast?
• In real life, organizational settings are very
complex. There are many things to look at
and people selectively focus on elements
form the past and present that are similar,
rather than focus on elements that are
different.
• They ignore the key contrasts!!
CONFRONTATION
• To force people to change, leaders must
confront their people with the key
contrasts between the past, present and
future
• Contrast and confrontation are necessary
to overcome the first resistance to change
– the failure to see !!
BREAKING THROUGH THE SIGHT BARRIER
CONFRONTATION
LOW
HIGH
BREAKTHROUGH!!
HIGH
PARADE
p
!!!
CONTRAST
LOW
GARBAGE CAN
OLD SHOW
TWO COMMON MISTAKES
• Comprehensive mistake
– Trying to focus on too many factors when it is
sufficient to just concentrate on the core 20%
of the factors that contribute to 80% results
• “I get it” mistake
– Forgetting that you are able to see it because
you have put in a lot of resources and gone
through many processes before you see it.
Now you expect your staff to see it by justing
pointing to them!!
HOW TO CREATE HIGH
CONTRAST?
• Focus on the core 20% of what is different
• Enhance ( or even slightly exaggerate! )
the simple description between the old and
the new
• Create visual images or pictures of the old
and the new, so that the contrast is
understood as more than mere words
HOW TO CREATE HIGH IMPACT
CONFRONTATION?
• Repeat the messages of the old and new mental
maps over and over and over again!
• Create high impact and inescapable
confrontations
– Focus on core contrasts, the key differences
– Make sure it involves as many of the senses as
possible
– Ensure ( physically!) the people cannot avoid the
experience
FAILURE TO MOVE!!
THE SECOND BRAIN BARRIER
WHY FAILURE TO MOVE?
• First, even when we see the old right thing
no longer works, we still don’t move if the
new mental map with its destination and
path is not clear (“ Articulate the vision”)
• Second, when the new vision is clear, it is
easier for people to see all the specific
ways in which they will be incompetent
and look stupid – ways that they will do the
right thing and do it badly!
THE KEYS TO MOVING
• Not just see the new destination clearly
but you must help them believe in the path
that will take them to the destination
– Make sure others see the destination or
targets clearly
– Give them the necessary skills, resources and
tools to reach the destination
– Deliver valuable rewards along the journey
Are people who see but still
fail to move just plain dumb??
STRATEGIC CHANGE MATRIX: BREAKING THROUGH THE
MOVEMENT BARRIER
Wrong Thing
Right Thing
Old right thing becomes
wrong
Done
Well
X
Done
Poorly
Stage 3
Can’t instantly be good at
the new right thing
They are not stupid!
• They do not want to look or feel stupid by
making the change
• Especially, with a work culture in which
mistakes were punished and learning was
rarely rewarded.
• They preferred to be competent in the
wrong thing than incompetent at the right
thing!!
THE SOLUTION …..
• They must be led to believe in a path that
will take them from doing the right thing
poorly to doing it well.
– They must see the destination or target
clearly ( not you the leader only!)
– Give them the skills, resources and tools so
that they believe they can do it! Walk the
path!!
– Deliver valuable rewards along the journey.
They value the outocmes.
A Note on Rewards
• Money? Yes and No
• ARCTIC Values
– Achievement (accomplishment, competition)
– Relations (approval, belonging)
– Conceptual/ Thinking (problem solving,
coordination)
– Improvement ( growth, exploration)
– Control (competence, influence)
FAILURE TO FINISH
THE THIRD BRAIN BARRIER
Organizational Change or
Transformation
• Organizational change is fundamentally
meaningful when the majority of the
people in the organization have changed –
think differently and act differently
WHY FAIL TO FINISH?
• TWO PRINICPAL FORCES
– People Getting Tired
• Change requires energy and effort
• The returns to investment for these extra inputs
may not be satisfactory
• Vapour of faith vs Concreteness of past practices
– People Getting Lost
• Major transformations of people and organizations
are long journeys
• Lost sense of direction over time and uncertainties
set in; hence hard to press ahead
KEYS TO FINISHING
TWO FACTORS
• PROVIDING CHAMPIONS
–
–
–
–
110% Champion!
Be close to the action
Look for the desired efforts not results
Counteract negative consequences with positive ones
• CHARTING PROGRESS
– Monitoring and communicating of progress
– ‘Micro-level’ monitoring and feedback
SUMMARY
STRATEGIC CHANGE MATRIX: THE THREE BARRIERS
Wrong Thing
Right Thing
Stage 1
Stage 2
See?
Done
Well
Finish?
Move?
Done
Poorly
Stage 3
THREE KEY PRINCIPLES TO
IMPLEMENT SUCCESSFULLY
• CONCEIVING
• BELIEVEING
• ACHIEVING
THE CBA’s OF STRATEGIC CHANGE: THREE
PRINCIPLES
Right Thing
Wrong Thing
Done
Well
Achieve
Done
Poorly
Believe
Conceive
TYPES OF CHANGE