Managing Change: The Three Laws for Successful Transition
Managing Change: The Three Laws for Successful Transition
Isaac Newton was a giant in the field of physics. We can all remember him from our school days as the genius that discovered the law of gravity. The picture of an apple falling from an apple tree on to Newton’s head is etched indelibly on our minds.
Newton is also famous for his three Laws of Motion. The formulation of these three laws was the largest single scientific advancement since the days of Aristotle, some two thousand years previous. Newton’s laws of motion apply to physical entities operating in space and describe how they interact at the most fundamental level. However, they can just as easily be applied to human entities interacting in an environment of change. When we apply them to people and organizations, we call the principles the Three Laws of Change Management ©.
Newton’s First Law of Motion states that an object will remain at rest or in perpetual motion until an unbalanced force acts upon it. Think of your change program for a moment as the object in Newton’s First Law. Once your change initiative gets going, think about what will keep the program moving towards your goal.
As with the object in Newton’s Law, your change program will need a force to get it going and will need a force to move it to each new level. Also, given the natural inertia in organizations, if the driving forces dissipate, like a rolling stone the program will eventually come to a halt.
Just as with Newton’s First Law, the force must be immediate for your program to progress. A potential force that will provide an impetus in the future is of no use in the present. What is the immediate force that will get your people moving and what are the forces that will keep them moving? For some, discussing with them the forces for change may compel them to follow and support you. You could point to:
· legislative changes such as corporate governance, occupational health and safety, and risk management
· competitor activity such as new entrants and decreasing market share .................................
· financial results such as profit and loss and share price ...............................................
· quality indicators such as defects and delivery to commit ...............................................
· customer feedback from surveys, mystery shopper, focus groups and field reports ..........................
· employee satisfaction survey results ................................................................
· benchmarking comparison results ........................................................................
You could also highlight the impact of not changing. Impacts that you could discuss with people may include:
· loss of market share .................................................................................
· fines or jail sentences for non-compliance or personal injury ........................................
· tarnished business reputation .............................................................................
· increased rate of customer complaints ...............................................................
· loss of key staff ..................................................................................
Whatever the forces for change, make sure that the forces are applied to the people needed to bring about the change by communicating often and using a variety of methods.
As you think about what strategies you will use to keep the momentum going in the new operational environment, I encourage you to draw a lesson from Newton’s Second Law of Motion. Newton’s Second Law states that the rate of change in motion of an object is proportional to the force acting upon it and inversely proportional to its mass. Consider the object as being the people working in the new organization and the force to keep them moving in the right direction as the various practical techniques that you can employ.
Your practical techniques could include:
· aligning systems of reward and recognition ...............................................................
· feeding back performance results to employees ..........................................................
· achieving some quick wins ...........................................................................
· celebrating achievements ............................................................................
· creating meaning through introducing symbols of the new culture ......................................
· ensuring managers walk the talk .....................................................................
· operationalizing the change .........................................................................
· aligning recruitment and selection criteria ............................................................
Newton’s principle is telling us that the greater the mass (that is, the more pronounced the resistance to change), the more diligently you will need to apply the techniques (that is, increase the strength of the force). Think about and record what concrete steps you will take to institutionalize the change and who will be responsible for each action.
The final lesson on managing change comes from Newton’s Third Law. Newton’s Third Law states that every action is met with an equal and opposite reaction. What the principle teaches us is that if you confront resisters with shouting, lies, mistrust, sarcasm or apathy, you will be confronted with shouting, lies, mistrust, sarcasm and apathy in return. On the other hand, if you treat resisters with respect, acknowledge their feelings and listen genuinely to their concerns, you will be met in kind. How can you apply this principle? Things to consider include:
* Communicate openly and often with employees and other stakeholders, and without using commercial confidence as an excuse to not communicate.
* Meet resisters face to face whenever possible.
* Point out unacceptable behavior without resorting to character assassination, sarcasm and other methods that serve to attack people’s sense of self-esteem.
* Keep your commitments in order to build trust and respect. Trust can be lost in an instant and take years to regain.
* Don’t shy away from bad news. Tell people candidly but sensitively.
* Choose people for key positions that have well developed interpersonal skills.
That’s three important keys to guiding successful organizational change. We can summarize these Three Laws of Change Management © as:
First Law: Overcoming the natural inertia in organizations requires the constant application of the forces for change.
Second Law: The greater the inertia or resistance to change, the greater the required forces for change.
Third Law: The way that change agents treat resisters is the way that resisters will treat change agents.
Next time you want to bring about positive change with maximal impact, think about Isaac Newton and the Three Laws of Change Management ©. Most importantly, think about how you can apply these three principles to your change program to get it moving in the right direction.
2006 © Business Performance Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
Managing Change The Three Laws for Successful Transition - To learn more about this author, visit Vicki Heath's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Today’s organizations are struggling with the fast pace of change. In spite of the massive amount of words that have been written on managing change, many organizations still seem to be going backwards. There are some simple yet powerful lessons to be learned from thought leaders of the past.
Isaac Newton was a giant in the field of physics. We can all remember him from our school days as the genius that discovered the law of gravity. The picture of an apple falling from an apple tree on to Newton’s head is etched indelibly on our minds.
Newton is also famous for his three Laws of Motion. The formulation of these three laws was the largest single scientific advancement since the days of Aristotle, some two thousand years previous. Newton’s laws of motion apply to physical entities operating in space and describe how they interact at the most fundamental level. However, they can just as easily be applied to human entities interacting in an environment of change. When we apply them to people and organizations, we call the principles the Three Laws of Change Management ©.
Newton’s First Law of Motion states that an object will remain at rest or in perpetual motion until an unbalanced force acts upon it. Think of your change program for a moment as the object in Newton’s First Law. Once your change initiative gets going, think about what will keep the program moving towards your goal.
As with the object in Newton’s Law, your change program will need a force to get it going and will need a force to move it to each new level. Also, given the natural inertia in organizations, if the driving forces dissipate, like a rolling stone the program will eventually come to a halt.
Just as with Newton’s First Law, the force must be immediate for your program to progress. A potential force that will provide an impetus in the future is of no use in the present. What is the immediate force that will get your people moving and what are the forces that will keep them moving? For some, discussing with them the forces for change may compel them to follow and support you. You could point to:
· legislative changes such as corporate governance, occupational health and safety, and risk management
· competitor activity such as new entrants and decreasing market share .................................
· financial results such as profit and loss and share price ...............................................
· quality indicators such as defects and delivery to commit ...............................................
· customer feedback from surveys, mystery shopper, focus groups and field reports ..........................
· employee satisfaction survey results ................................................................
· benchmarking comparison results ........................................................................
You could also highlight the impact of not changing. Impacts that you could discuss with people may include:
· loss of market share .................................................................................
· fines or jail sentences for non-compliance or personal injury ........................................
· tarnished business reputation .............................................................................
· increased rate of customer complaints ...............................................................
· loss of key staff ..................................................................................
Whatever the forces for change, make sure that the forces are applied to the people needed to bring about the change by communicating often and using a variety of methods.
As you think about what strategies you will use to keep the momentum going in the new operational environment, I encourage you to draw a lesson from Newton’s Second Law of Motion. Newton’s Second Law states that the rate of change in motion of an object is proportional to the force acting upon it and inversely proportional to its mass. Consider the object as being the people working in the new organization and the force to keep them moving in the right direction as the various practical techniques that you can employ.
Your practical techniques could include:
· aligning systems of reward and recognition ...............................................................
· feeding back performance results to employees ..........................................................
· achieving some quick wins ...........................................................................
· celebrating achievements ............................................................................
· creating meaning through introducing symbols of the new culture ......................................
· ensuring managers walk the talk .....................................................................
· operationalizing the change .........................................................................
· aligning recruitment and selection criteria ............................................................
Newton’s principle is telling us that the greater the mass (that is, the more pronounced the resistance to change), the more diligently you will need to apply the techniques (that is, increase the strength of the force). Think about and record what concrete steps you will take to institutionalize the change and who will be responsible for each action.
The final lesson on managing change comes from Newton’s Third Law. Newton’s Third Law states that every action is met with an equal and opposite reaction. What the principle teaches us is that if you confront resisters with shouting, lies, mistrust, sarcasm or apathy, you will be confronted with shouting, lies, mistrust, sarcasm and apathy in return. On the other hand, if you treat resisters with respect, acknowledge their feelings and listen genuinely to their concerns, you will be met in kind. How can you apply this principle? Things to consider include:
* Communicate openly and often with employees and other stakeholders, and without using commercial confidence as an excuse to not communicate.
* Meet resisters face to face whenever possible.
* Point out unacceptable behavior without resorting to character assassination, sarcasm and other methods that serve to attack people’s sense of self-esteem.
* Keep your commitments in order to build trust and respect. Trust can be lost in an instant and take years to regain.
* Don’t shy away from bad news. Tell people candidly but sensitively.
* Choose people for key positions that have well developed interpersonal skills.
That’s three important keys to guiding successful organizational change. We can summarize these Three Laws of Change Management © as:
First Law: Overcoming the natural inertia in organizations requires the constant application of the forces for change.
Second Law: The greater the inertia or resistance to change, the greater the required forces for change.
Third Law: The way that change agents treat resisters is the way that resisters will treat change agents.
Next time you want to bring about positive change with maximal impact, think about Isaac Newton and the Three Laws of Change Management ©. Most importantly, think about how you can apply these three principles to your change program to get it moving in the right direction.
2006 © Business Performance Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
Managing Change The Three Laws for Successful Transition - To learn more about this author, visit Vicki Heath's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
|||
Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Vicki's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | ||
|
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 Internet Marketing Secrets Effective Art Of Networking Leadership Assessment Become a Better Closer! Easy Product Ideas |
|
 | ||
 |
More PR Resources
Press Release Builder | |
 |
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2007
Top SEO Posts of the Year | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||