Planned and unplanned change

Outcomes
• Define change and explain its forces
• Describe types of change and explain the
process
• Summarize reasons for resistance and possible
solutions
• Present leadership practices necessary to
implement change including importance if vision
• Explain importance of creativity and
improvisation in leading change
• Apply principles of learning organizations and
positive leadership in leading change
Forces for change

External Internal
Economic and Low performance
political New leadership
Cultural and social CHANGE Low satisfaction
Demographic New mission
Industry Conflict
Technology
Types and process of change
• Planned – when conscious decision made in response
to specific issue
• Unplanned – random and sudden without intention of
addressing a problem
• Evolutionary – gradual or incremental
• Convergent – planned evolutionary resulting from
specific and conscious actions by leaders to change the
organization
• Revolutionary – rapid and dramatic

Unfreezing Changing Freezing

Process of planned change
Current state Desired state

1 Recognition of need for

change

2 Development of ideas for

change

6 Evaluation
3 Adoption of one or more
ideas

4 Implementation 5 Allocation of resources

Dealing with unplanned change
1 Avoid becoming too formal, hierarchical and rigid

2 infuse moderate uncertainty and spontaneity into decisions

to prevent complacency

3 Be proactive introducing new strategies, products, services

4 Replace and rotate leaders to bring fresh ideas, methods

and visions

5 Experiment often with new methods, products, processes,

structures
 Resistance to change

Individual causes
Organizational causes
Fear of unknown
Inertia Group causes
Fear of failure
Culture Norms
Job security
Structure Cohesion
Individual
Lack of rewards Leadership
characteristics
Poor timing
Previous experience
Leading change
Challenge the Create a shared
process vision

Enable followers Exemplary Role modeling

leadership

Encourage the
Celebrate success
‘heart’
Leading change
• Leadership style – autocratic leaders demand obedience
impede creative process and open exchange
• Flexible structure – less centralized and less hierarchical
structures allow for the free flow of ideas
• Open organizational culture – being creative is more likely
in a culture that values change and constructive deviance
• Questioning attitude – leaders can encourage and inspire
followers to question assumptions and look for novel
alternatives
• Tolerating mistakes – by encouraging experimentation,
tolerating, leader sends a strong message about risk-taking
Approaches to change
• Leadership style – autocratic leaders demand obedience
impede creative process and open exchange
• Flexible structure – less centralized and less hierarchical
structures allow for the free flow of ideas
• Open organizational culture – being creative is more likely
in a culture that values change and constructive deviance
• Questioning attitude – leaders can encourage and inspire
followers to question assumptions and look for novel
alternatives
• Tolerating mistakes – by encouraging experimentation,
tolerating, leader sends a strong message about risk-taking
Core elements of learning organizations

• Isolated jobs
• Ignoring gradual
change
• Shared vision
• Emphasis on
• Systems thinking
events
• Mental models
• Blaming others
• Personal mastery
• Skilled
• Team learning
incompetence
• Illusion of taking
charge
Summary
• Change is the only constant
• Forces pressure firms to be flexible, adaptive and
transformational
• Leader’s ability is key for change and may depend on
tolerance for ambiguity
• Most change is revolutionary
• Change three-step process
• Planned change follows six steps
• Different leadership approach to planned and unplanned
change
• Resistance through organizational, group and individual
causes
• Shared vision
Review, activities and discussion

• Describe internal and external forces for

change (discussion)
• What can leaders do to prepare their
organizations for planned and unplanned
change (discussion)
• Leadership in action: Best Buy takes in its
own culture
• Horse whisperer
• Implementing unpopular change
• Analyzing and planning for change
Review, activities and discussion
• Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owU5aTNPJbs - Six
keys to leading positive change - Rosabeth Moss Kanter
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0siBRHKbIU - Successful
change management – U of Cranfield