More than 70% of Change Initiatives fail, we want you to succeed
We guide you towards sustainable sucsess - with more than 30 years of change experience in mulit-nationals as well as small to medium sized companies. With confidence and joy.
Our icoop signature approach guarantees your growth.
In a five-steps approach, we explore key data of your current change initiative and (re-)shape the social architecture which guides you and your relevant eco-system through a tayler-made process - this allows both, participation and ownership as well as effective execution and evaluation, right from the beginning.
Don't loose precious time with analysing resistance to change - adjust your approach and turn the steering wheel towards a successful change in a whatever called world (VUCA, BANI, TUNA, disruptive economy, poly crises, post normal or age of accelaration) and dare to shape your role as a change leader, not as a manager, ambassador or multiplier -
we support you and your team to create clarity, build real realationships and co-create a future from your specific field. Sustainable change is a marathon and its success is team sports, not a single hero journey.
Why is it so important
to succeed in Change
Of course, you want and need to reach your strategic goals, operate from the place you defined as your desired state, live up to your vision.
Developing the abilty to change as an organisation, function or team is a valuable side effect of each change iniative and it represents an asset for growth and continuous self-renewal. Train your change muscle while you are moving forward.
Change is called to be the new normal
A systemic organisational consultant sees every system (e.g. organisations, team, market) as living systems i.e. a system which reproduces itself via communication unless it is hindered or prevented by someone or something to do so.
We call this 'autopoiesis' - each living system sustains itself in their own inherent sense. This includes a unique concept or rules of how it is staying alive and what kind of development makes sense. A unique DNA.
As a change leader you have the choice either to support this often unconscious logic of "keeping us alive as we are and always have been" - or, you engage in leading your organisation, function or team (social system) and the people (psycho systems) through a conscious journey of change, a sense-making renewal.
Change is explicit transformation - WE cannot stay as we are right now. This reqires guidance and leadership. Some organisations are in a vital process of continuously developing their organisation, e.g. refining processes, re-design governance and cooperation guidelines. As soon as you need or want to transform, you start change.
Very often, responsible Executives just "manage" change - they engage ambassadors, hand over their responsibilties to experts and/or consultants. But the work has to be done by all partners involved and affected from a desired or necessary change, role-modeled by the initiators of change - whatever the specific drivers are, i.e. technological quantum loops, supply chain challenges or a simple shortage of raw materials.
A quote I like very much - as it is true in my experience and ancient wisdom: "Don't spend all of your energy on defending the past, focus on building the NEW." Wwe would add: Together.
Resilience pretends to be a remedy to change
If living systems reproduce themselves, the development of resilience is a funny but serious endeavor nowadays. Very often the call for organisational resilience appears as solatium, the booby prize to not get lost in overwhelming change or new impulses which disturb the vitality as organisation, team or individual.
Successfully led change requires awareness and openess to the very natural fact that each system is created to keep itself alive. John Kotter used the term "unfreeze" as a prerquisite for change - yet organisations are not ice blocks, nor toasters. Therefore, leading change starts with a very clear message and a shared understanding WHY your organisation has to change, followed by the allowance and enabling to sense a future from the field (Otto Scharmer, U-School - Presencing, Leading from an emerging future).
Leading change sustainably is about conscious participation and the creation of ownership - each expert, each leader knows consciously or unconsciously what needs to change and what might need to stay as it is in order to develop in their functional and professional field.
Change leaders connect the dots, ask the right questions and offer space for sensing and co-creating a future - they inspire contribution and provide direction. This energy does not require the ability to "come back to its original shape" (pure physical etymology of resilience). Training for being able to act, yes, of course. Raising self-efficacy, yes, always. All pillars of organisational resilience are precious.
But leading change effectively is the process of letting go and letting come, it is a joint CREATION of a desired future in an organisation, a new sense that allows to adapt and transform what was vital and 'true' until now.
Leaders make the weather
Leaders are role models, they co-create the culture of a company, of a function or a team by their pure actions. What you get, is what you see - not what is written down in sense-making principles or value charters pinned around the company's buildings.
Your attitude, values and behavioiur as a LEADER have the potential and the power to influence not only the performance of indivudals, but also their attitude, their willingness to contribute, and finally also their identification with the business, the company and their own role in it.
Research shows that a quite stable percentage of employees always moves into resistance when it comes to change - dare to influence this phenomena and start to lead CHANGE as a joint and sense-making movement that requires the contribution of the whole eco-system involved, including all perspectives, also resistance.
Inspire change as a natural and necessary development of an organization, a function or a team and of each individual - and build on their ability to guarantee its survival (explore: autopoiesis, in biology shaped by Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, applied on social systems e.g. organisations, economy, politics and further developed by Niklas Luhmann). Leaders inspire, guide and invite to co-create a desired future.
Why managing change leads to more than 70% failures
Change is a natural journey, not a plan to be executed. Leading change is key - co-creating a new sense-making set up, procedures or roles. Leading change implies an iterative approach of steering, not executing.
Sometimes the necessity to change evolves from crisis (Chinese = chance, it occurs when living up to one-sided extremes forces a new balance), sometimes change is disruptive and requires a full transformation (catastrophe in ancient Greek = complete turnaround) - again, a living system always sustains itself including the interaction with and the relevant distinction from its environment. Unless something or somebody hinders this capability.
For companies, three perspectives are relevant: (1) Interaction with partners within and outside their current eco-system, (2) Exploration of opportunities, (3) Being aware of their specific context including e.g. competitors, politics, technological development. This is a steady process, crucial for survival. Not a "we did it last year" job - leadership engages for future and continuously asks "Are we doing the right thing" including the eco-system.
Yes, organisations need the role of a manager - in change, though, this side of the coin won't lead to sustainable success. Managers operate on efficiency, guided by the question "Are we doing things right."
Cultivating relevant relations and shaping purpose driven interaction is relevant everyday, not only in explicit change initiatives. Noel Tichy (working with Jacques Welsh for GE) created the acronym GPRI - co-create and agree on goals, roles, relevant processes and interaction. Add context and culture, there you go.
And isn't the aim of all life to live, and not only to survive. Be aware of your responsibilty and influence.
Of course, we operate also with common tools i.e. stakeholder analysis, strategy development, KPI and concepts such as organisational design and strategic agiltiy. Yet a fool with a tool, is still a fool.
The icoop consulting signature integrates system thinking as well as international practice proved frameworks, concepts and tools - Resource oriented. Co-creative. Practical.
You cannot steer change with tools only
If cultivating relevant relations and shaping purpose driven interaction in change is as relevant as in everyday business life, we very much appreciate one specifc framework.
Noel Tichy (working with Jacques Welsh on the transformation of GE) created the acronym GPRI - co-create and agree on Goals, Roles, relevant Processes and Interaction. Add Context and Culture, there you go.
And isn't the aim of all life to live, and not only to survive. Be aware of your responsibilty and influence.
Of course, we operate also with further common tools i.e. stakeholder analysis, strategy development, KPI and concepts such as organisational design and strategic agiltiy. Yet a fool with a tool, is still a fool.
The icoop consulting signature integrates system thinking as well as international practice proved frameworks, concepts and tools - Resource oriented. Co-creative. Practical.
A five-steps approach to
sustainable change
Step 1
Communication
Who and whatever is the spark for a new change initiative, challenge your first ideas by asking yourself and the people involved the basic three change questions:
No. 1 Why leaving the current state
No. 2 Where do want/ need to go
No. 3 How do we get there
(Rudi Wimmer, Co-Founder of osb-i)
Share your ideas, whishes and intentions early in the process with partners of your relevant eco-system instead of thinking out each detail in a privileged circle.
Chose co-creative approaches e.g. Sensing the future (U-School, Otto Sharmer M.I.T.) - this helps avoiding down-loading of old patterns. Lead from the emerging future is the slogan, letting go of the known is mandatory for letting come of the new.
The drivers for your change might be common (e.g. cost effeciency, competitor behaviour, use of AI), your response should be a conscious choice.
A change initiaitve - deliberate or forced -sometimes does not derive from strategy. Aligmnent is helpful, inspiring strategic agility is better. Again, start a dialogue - when one part of a system is about to change, others seldomly can stay the same without hindering it for the part who wants it.
Communication is key, therefore create a communication set up that is more than information.
People who are informed, feel informed. People affected of your new ideas, need to be able to at least contribute - if you want ownership, you must allow the participation in relevant decision-making.
Think big - who needs to be considered in your relevant eco-system. Clients (e.g. b2b, b2c), collaboration partners (internal, external) - who is relevant for your success.
Step 2
Ownership
You may encourage contribution of relevant people involved in your change initiative, making space for real ownership leads you beyond the 70% of failure. Ask yourself:
No. 1 Who needs to own this change?
No. 2 Which space is open for decisions?
No. 3 What is a suitable social architecture?
(Bettina Nemeczek, Founder of icoop)
Dare to leave space for ownership and demand own thinking, co-creating and decision-making.
What you decide, is yours. This represents a leverage in responsibility that lasts.
People don't resist to change, they resist being changed (Peter Senge, Fifth Discipline - System Thinking).
The easy way is to manage CHANGE, the sustainable way is to LEAD it.
Leading change requires the art of giving direction and freedom, plus the wisdom to distinguish when and how much of what is needed in what area.
This leads to a next concept called agility or simply creating an iterative approach of steering a change processes.
The efffectiveness of ownership is directly correlated to the basic readiness for change and the company culture - employees who are used to micromanagement, a restrictive and overruling hierarchy or a trained mantra of "we are sucessfull as we are", naturally doubt and struggle with a sudden allowance of freedom of action.
Effectice ownership needs enabling
Enbling people who co-create change is a pre-requsisite for success - it allows the individual to learn and integrate new skills and to exchange openly on what is no longer helpful, in the change process itself and in the desired-state or quantum move they are creating.
A cross-functional approach is sense-making for enabling formats. Individual coaching for leaders is a classic support for enabling the 'new' to develop.
Step 3
Process
You cannot implemtent change, you can create it. Once you made up your mind on communication and ownership, you are ready to decide on a suitable social architecture:
No. 1 Who needs to interact ...
No. 2 ... on what topic in what rythm
No. 3 ... for which outcome, when
(Bettina Nemeczek, Founder of icoop)
Leading a change initiative is not managing a project, by the way - how many projects are driven each year in companies, how many are successful including Lessons Learnt).
The orchestration of communication, collaboration and decision-making is key to a sustainable and successful change.
As systemic organisational consultants we distinguish between levels of interventions - who needs to accomplish what when when with whom for the sake of what, exactly.
E.g. how often does a change leader team meet, how long and what is on the agenda. Which topics need to be worked out by whom (also cross-functionally) and by when. How many large sized events do you need to share, co-create and evaluate progress, and with whom. The result is a roadmap.
Stakeholders are part of the relevant eco-system that needs to be integrated, always ask yourself who else is relevant in what stage. This might change along the process, so act accordingly and always, again ... communicate why you need whom in order to contribute what.
Better integrate people late than never.
Evaluation of the outcome of your change initiative is to be defined already at the beginning, during the process and within the last stage of your change process.
Make people aware how you measure success and accomplishment - what are quick wins, what are experiments and what are non-negotiable outcomes not only during the active change process but also beyond. Your desired state is not stable, it represents a next level, a next version of your organisation, function or team.
And finally,
you steer and evaluate your change initiative
Step 4
Steering
When we think of organisations, we often have in mind the structure and the processes within a company, maybe the people and the culture. A further relevant dimension is steering - which we define as oranizing communication, collaboration and decision-making.
Once you defined your social architecture and you may have divided your change process in sense-making phases or steps, it is your responsibilty to steer it.
Steering is always an iterative procedure of observing what is happening and developing within the system and deciding when and how to intervene. Regular thinking and acting looks like ...
No. 1 Collecting relevant data = information, not any data
No. 2 Measuring progress, building hypothesis on progress
No. 3 Co-creating suitable interventions and evaluating them
We call it the 'systemic loop' as human interaction and therefore measurable progress in organizations is not linear -
"Organisations are not toasters", Bettina Nemeczek ... even if we wish they were.
We cannot relate one precise measure to exactly one precise outcome, but we can observe what is effective and what isn't.
Of course you need to meet defined economical outcomes, but espeacially within change you cannot measure immediately what activity led to which result. So you observe and build your hypothesis, co-create interventions (not only activities, letting people do their staff is also an intervention). Then you evaluate, again with collecting relevant data and so forth.
The development of an organisation takes time, effort and a high attention over the full process.
Leading change is a leader's full responsibility, and not handing it over to others e.g. ambassadors, agents or teams. Those roles might be helpful. Steering is key to success and sets a role model, also within change.
The change leader - if you want to belong to the 20% of guaranteed success - cannot delegate this responsibilty, as true as for the daily business. Leading change is a long haul, for each party involved.
Stamina, perseverance and patience are important characteristics of sucessful change leaders. If you do so, a change can unfold the full abilities of each and everybody to jointly renew the system, again and again.
How do you steer your change process?
How do you define and live your role as a change leader?
Step 5
Evaluation
Clear criteria for measuring your desired outcomes are necessary in each change endevor - you don't change for the sake of change and your specific change initiative should differ from overall & once-in-a-while calls for change activities.
You want or need to leave the current situation for good reasons.
Therefore your change initiative needs a clear beginning and end - being aware of the fact that the development of an organisation is part of the role of an Executive and also part of the role of a team leader, hand-in-hand with the development of the people.
We recommend the following thoughts and questions:
No. 1 What sould be different at the end of the process, why
No. 2 Who would recognize the outcome of the change, why
No. 3 If nothing would change, who carries the consequences, why
(Bettina Nemeczek, Founder of icoop)
Again, you may and must define strategic targets and KPI. And again, organizations are not machines (toasters).
Therefore, your answers to question no. 1 can be business and economically and at the same time your vision, target picture or desired state MUST be felt.
Both working with metaphors as well as economically makes sense - depending on your very specific case for change.
A classic metaphor in re-organizations is the tanker ship versus the agile speed boat - dare to be more specific and creative.
"Leading from an emerging future" as Otto Scharmer says, does not function with downloading what is already known.
The quality of your evaluation starts with the quality of your conscious creation of a desired future, allowing space for new ideas and paths to emerge while driving the designed change process.
Finally, evaluation is NEVER a single questionaire on what precious aspects ever. It can be a part of it.
An evaluation always should be 'systemic' i.e. getting in dialogue with all partners of your relevant eco-system - again, not only but also at the end of your process.
Evaulation itself is an intervention and fosters new patterns of interaction and perception which is key to new desired formats of communicating, collaborating and decision-making - from within.