Preview of The Art and Science of Change
A Leadership Guide for Powerful Results

by Linda Wilson

Copyright © Holland & Davis Inc. 1997

The Change Game is no different. We need art and science in somewhat equal parts to realize optimal (well, almost any) change. If there are no "artists," we may not be able to "see and feel" the Big Picture as the organization responds to its environment. Insightful, charismatic leaders become tremendous forces who can artfully intuit big obstacles and motivate troops to go for big goals.

Yet if we have no "scientists," we may not be able to stay focused on the disciplined engineering of change that, in the end, gets things done. "Mr. Science" leaders can be excellent at focusing organizational attention on the many interdependencies that must coordinate to produce desired results for change efforts. Anyone who's been there knows that in the case of change, the devil really is in the details.

Where does your organization fall on the art/science change spectrum?

If your company falls in the 0-4 range toward the SCIENCE extreme, you'll want to expand intuitive capabilities with ... Organizational "translator/interpreter" to supplement leadership's people insight Coach to motivate and add momentum throughout the game Dynamic, multi-track gameplanner		If your company falls in the 0-4 range toward the ART extreme, you'll want to get some grounding with ... Change management methodology, like The Change Management Toolkit or Engineering Organizational Change Project management mindset Tangible measures of performance

Below, we're sharing some key questions with HDI website visitors and would appreciate your feedback. Whether your organization is working on Big "C" Change or smaller, more continuous little "c" changes, these diagnostic Qs & As will give you some clues on which areas to focus your attention during change ... or before you even attempt it.

What we would like to know ... How might the questions below be answered by people in your company? By your customers? Presuming enough participation, we'll tabulate and publish the results in the book. Also, if you leave us a means of contacting you, we'll send you the results pre-publication. You can give your contact information here ... or skip ahead to the quiz.

Preferred Means of Contact:
E-mail Phone Fax

Your Name:

Company:

Your Functional Area:

E-mail Address (if applicable):

Phone Number (if applicable):

Fax Number (if applicable):

1.You've expressed your commitment to change your organization. Now... are you willing to fire your best friend to make it happen? To promote an enemy?

Willing to fire your best friend?
Yes
No

Willing to promote an enemy?
Yes
No

[This Leadership commitment question gets right to the point, doesn't it?]

2. Employees have their own "insightful" interpretations of how your company "feels" to them. But, more importantly, how would your customers characterize your company? 

a. Paralyzed with fear: "Sales representatives can't even make the simplest decisions without consulting someone else."

b. Leaderless and moving from crisis to crisis: "Their product pricing last year seemed to depend on which way the wind was blowing."

c. Innovative, creative and proactive: "Their sales associates know my company's needs almost before I do."

d. Flexible and adaptive to my needs: "Even if our design specs change, it never puts an unreasonable kink in the delivery schedule."

e. A passive, entrenched bureaucracy: "They're worse to deal with than the DMV."

[Individual actions and behaviors, overtime, comprise your organizational culture. This question addresses the consequences of Corporate Culture inside and outside the organization.]

3. Everyday, each manager in a typical organization makes at least five decisions that affect the company's top or bottom line. What guidelines does your company use to make decisions? 

a. We throw darts to determine today's targets.

b. We reach consensus to improve understanding and speed implementation.

alr c. We do what's best for shareholder value.

d. We base our decisions on customer and marketplace criteria.

e. We make decisions that are consistent with progress toward the company's vision.

[This question addresses the value of Vision and Strategy as they are actively understood throughout the organization ... or aren't, as the case may be. To get where you want to go, everyone in the organization must "see" where that is and how they fit in to get you "there".]

4. You call the monthly change implementation progress meeting. Who shows up... and whose meeting is it? 

a. The CEO or COO/president

b. VP of operations and VP or sales

c. Mid-management

d. Staff

e. Line management

[This question addresses how the Resources (people and funds) which an organization visibly, actively commits to change can -- and do -- send powerful messages that add energy, or inertia, to change efforts.]

5. In a technical installation, it takes 5-50X longer to train in the new skills to use the application than to load the software itself. What's your general ratio of training hours to installation for a new skills that's needed? 

a. 1-to-1

b. Around 10-to-1

c. More than 10-to-1

d. What training hours? Our employees are expected to learn on their own time what it takes to do their jobs.

e. We outsource or hire-in when we need new skills.

[This question addresses the often-overlooked time and detailed effort involved in defining new Roles and Responsibilities in the "changed" organization and in acquiring/updating the requisite Skills needed to perform them effectively.]

6. You've redesigned a core process to produce dramatic, profitable results. What's the most effective approach to use with those hold-outs who continue to resist the change? 

a. Fire their ass!!

b. Don't pay them!

c. Beg, plead and cajole them into trying it.

d. Threaten ... but without consequences.

e. Remain silent and hope they will eventually follow their peers who are successfully making the change.

[This question addresses Incentives for change: how and when to deal with resistance to change ... and how we must literally "recontract" work and "rescore" work value in the "changed" organization. And, or course, the recontracting and rescoring must be aligned with organizational goals and strategies ... and supported by requisite changes to people, processes and technology.]

7. Over a five-year career, most of us "re-start" key projects 250 times ... when each Monday morning comes around. What prompts you into action every Monday? 

a. The biggest crisis

b. Whatever you can get done the quickest

c. What "feels" right today

d. Milestone targets based on goals you know will help reach company goals

e. Knowing the critical "whats" based on your company's vision, understanding the "whys" and doing the "hows" "when" they need to be done.

[This question addresses the uncompromising need for individualized, detailed-enough Action Plans so that all employees understand what they need to do any day of the week -- on a routine basis or when an important new project is rolled out.]

To submit your quiz answers, click on the Submit button below. (This will also allow you to get to the Storybook -- where we're collecting the good, the bad and the ugly stories about change.)

To go directly to the Storybook, click here.