We normally focus on the wrong things for organisational change. Instead of looking at the parts such as processes, products, or people that make up the system understand the way that it is connected up can be the key to unlocking change.
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The Typical Approach to Focusing on in Change Management.
When we approach social and organisational change we usually to focus on changing the components in a system: whether those things are processes, products, or people. But that is blinding us to a major factor that defines the organsiational system. The relationships.
Why Are Relationships Important in Change Management
If we are to understand social and organisational change management however. We need to understand that what defines a social system is less about the individual components in a system, but how they are connected and relate to one another.
Why Do You Need to manage Relationships to Make Changes
Our societies and organisations are complex networks. Our social systems are defined by the things they are connected to. If we change the relationships, we change the nature of the system.
How Connections and Relationships Define Our Roles
You change the individual component and guess what. People change their connections, so that something else fulfills the same role for them.
You can see this when someone leaves an organisation. The person doing the work may operate differently, but it is more likely that they will adapt to fulfil the pre-existing role rather than they change the system as a whole.
The person rarely or quickly changes the nature of the system and usually, it is them that changes. (This explains why our politicians always go in promising change and somehow they become part of the system)
Changing the Thing Often Does Not Change The Relationships
If we don’t focus on the relationships people to have to things instead of changing we often find that people like to stick to what they know. We also we change the tools people work with, they often find workarounds to perform the same role.
Our Organisational Relationships Defines Us
How much office software still resembles the paper we used, the square grids we did maths on, to delete is to put something in the trash, powerpoint has still barely moved on from a slideshow. Even our technology rich video conversations are still ‘calls’.
So our relationships with things are sustained even if our connection to the physical artifact has gone. How we relate to the thing is more important than the thing itself.
Managing Relationships is The Key to Organisational Change
Therefore when we change organisations and social systems think beyond the physical and look at how people interact and connect within it. Change those relationships and you change the behaviour of the system as a whole.
Connections Define the Organisations and Systems
It is the connection and interactions that sustains our systems and organisations, not the things within the system (which are necessary but replaceable).
Why Agile is Often More Effective at Organisational Change
This might explain why agile changes work better, than large scale waterfall planning approaches to change management, not through the processes or products they change. But in way they foster and create interactions that support change.
It’s how people relate and interact with the Kanban board that matters most, not the structure of the board.
Components of a System Are Still Important
Yes we still need to change the components of a system, but we also need to put much more focus on the relationships and interactions of a system to create real social and organisational transformation.
If we understand the components of our system and the differences between them this helps us essential diversity in our decision making.
Diversity in decision making is essential for the success and sustainability of any new change initiative. As Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety means that we need to have a range and variety in the parts of our system so that our organisation can continue to thrive and survive in an ever changing world.
Web of Stakeholder Engagement
The Web of Stakeholder Engagement is a powerful tool to help you better communicate and engage stakeholders in your organisational change. It helps you plan and implement a multifacted approach to recruit and engage people in your change efforts. Learn more about the web of stakeholder engagement here.
Using Relationships for Change Management
When you are tasked with managing an organisational change. Try and understand the relationships across the organisation. Don’t just focus on the parts focus on how they are connected. By understanding and managing the relationships you give your organisational change the best chance of success.
Conclusion
Real organisational change goes beyond altering processes, products, or people. It’s about transforming the relationships and interactions that connect these components. By focusing on how elements within a system relate to one another, we can achieve sustainable and meaningful change. Understanding and managing these connections is key to fostering a dynamic and resilient organisation, making relationships the cornerstone of effective change management.
Question
How do you think we can make stronger change through relationships?
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