By  DEBORAH  ROWLAND  and  MALCOLM  HIGGS    

A  huge  amount  of  change  initiatives  fail.  Based  on  a  combination  of  4  years  rigorous  research  and  practical  application  of  the  emerging  findings,  the  book  explores  the  dilemmas  related  to  the  growing  need  for  change  and  the  difficulty  in  making  change  work.  With  empirical  research  of  leaders  in  some  of  the  most  successful  global  organisations  including  PwC,  Starbucks  and  Shell,  this  book  will  enable  organisations  and  their  leaders  to  make  substantial  performance  improvements.    

 ABOUT  THE  AUTHORS    

Former  Director  of  the  School  of  Leadership,  Change  &  HR  and  Research  Director  of  Henley  Management  College,  UK,  Malcolm  Higgs  has  extensive  consulting  experience  with  the  Hay  Group,  Arthur  Young  and  as  Principal  Partner  in  Towers  Perrin’s  Human  Resource  Management  practice.  He  has  published  extensively  on  Leadership,  team  development,  executive  assessment,  change  management,  and  emotional  intelligence  -­‐  he  has  jointly  developed  a  psychometric  test  to  measure  this.  Member  of  the  British  Psychological  Society  and  a  Chartered  Occupational  Psychologist,  Higgs  is  also  actively  involved  in  consulting  on  leadership,  change  and  assessment  with  international  companies,  both  as  individual  consultant  and  Chairman  of  Transcend  Consultancy  LLP.    

                                                                       Compelling  writer  and  thinking  practitioner  Deborah  Rowland  ,  former  Managing  Partner  of  Transcend  Consultancy  LLP  has  had  a  20  year  career  in  organisational  change,  performance  improvement,  and  leadership  development,  both  as  a  consultant  at  Towers  Perrin  and  Omega  Management  Consultants,  a  business  practitioner  at  Shell  and  PepsiCo,  and  a  teacher  and  lecturer  at  Business  Schools  such  as  Henley  Management  College  and  Bath  University,  UK.  Principal  positions  have  included  VP  Organisational  Development  for  Pepsi  Cola  International,  NY,  PepsiCo’s  Director  of  Organisation  and  Management  Development,  and  Senior  Organisational  Effectiveness  Consultant  at  Royal  Dutch  Shell,  London.  Rowland,  who  holds  a  Double  First  in  Archaeology  and  Anthropology  from  Cambridge  University,  is  also  a  member  of  SOL-­‐UK,  the  UK  arm  of  the  Society  for  Organisational  Learning.    

 

 

   

 

EXTRACT      

Sustaining  Change    Leadership  that  Works    

Deborah  Rowland  and  Malcolm  Higgs    

Chapter  Four    CHANGING  LEADERSHIP  –  A  FRAMEWORK    

‘Never  confuse  action  with  movement’    Hemingway    

Chapter  Four    CHANGING  LEADERSHIP  –  A  FRAMEWORK    

We  continued  our  quest  to  discover  what  it  was  that  leaders  did  to  move  an  organisation  to  a  different  place.  Many  leaders  attempt  to  implement  change  by  creating  a  lot  of  new  action  in  their  organisations.  However  we  could  see  that   more   activity   by   itself   did   not   guarantee   that   an   organisation   would  break  out  of  its  cycles  of  repeating  patterns,  or  habitual  routines.  People  can  just  get  busier.  Initiatives,  work  streams,  programmes  and  events  create  a  lot  of   noise   and   apparent   ‘change’   and  make   senior   executives   feel   that   ‘things  are   happening’.   Yet   deep   down,   the   organisation,   while   in  motion,   can   feel  just   the   same.  New  words   and   language   enter   the   organisation  without   the  work   changing.   People’s   behaviour   looks   eerily   familiar.   And   the  organisation’s   customers   and   partners   still   experience   the   organisation   in  exactly  the  same  way  –  perhaps  just  a  little  more  stressed.  For  some  reason,  certain  change  initiatives  expend  an  enormous  amount  of  effort  for  very  little  return.    

Insights  were  emerging  from  our  initial  research  inquiry  as  to  why  that  might  be   the   case.   Certainly   the   choice   of   change   approach   made   a   difference.  However  the  most  compelling  finding  was  that  what  a  leader  does  makes  the  biggest  difference   to  successful  change,  not  what   they  say  or  plan.   One   of   the  factors  we  studied  in  the  stories  was  the  leader’s  personal  theory  about  how  change   should   happen.   And   yet   this   theorizing   leadership   style   made  absolutely  no  difference  to  the  outcome.  There  was  little  correlation  between  a   leader’s   theoretical   understanding   about   change   and  whether  or  not   they  were   then   successful   in   implementing   it.   It  was  what   they   chose   to   do   that  made  all   the  difference.  To  be  successful   in   change   implementation,   leaders  therefore  have  to  pay  acute  attention  to  their  own  style  and  practice.  And  yet  we   frequently   observe   that   the   more   senior   leaders   become   in   their  organisations,  the  more  that  attention  is  paid  to  the  quality  of  their  thinking  

and   the   rigour  of   their  planning   –  not   to   the  quality  of   their  behaviour   and  what   they   do.   We   are   not   saying   that   thinking   and   planning   are   not  important.  We  are  saying  that  leaders  should  pay  equal  attention  to  how  they  go  about  their  work      – how  they  engage  with  others,  how  they  set  up  meetings,  how  they  have  conversations,  how  they  create  meaning  in  the  organisation  for  the  change  process  –  in  order  for  any  change  to  be  successful.  This  requires  leaders  to  have  a  heightened  awareness  of  the  dynamics  in  the  organisation  and  why  it  might  be  ‘stuck’  in  repeating  patterns;  the  self  awareness  and  humility  to  recognise  that  certain  elements  of  their  own  leadership  practice  has  created  that;  and  the  courage  to  then  act  on  this  insight  and  adapt  their  behaviour  in  order  for  the  organisation  around  them  to  change.  For  when  a  leader’s  behaviour  moves,  it  can  have  a  wonderfully  surprising  impact  on  moving  the  wider  system  around  them.  

Another  related  theme  we  were  noticing  in  our  inquiry  was  that  the  successful  leadership  of  change  seemed  to  be  about  leading  in  the  moment.  The  power  of  the  present  was  all  important.  The  leader  needed  to  pay  constant  attention  to  clues  in  the  current  environment    

–  for  example  how  people  were  reacting  to  the  change,  who  was  showing  up  to  what  type  of  meetings,  what  kind  of  emails  were  being  written  (and  not  written),  what  range  of  emotions  were  being  expressed  or  avoided  –  and  then  take  action  based  on  these  clues.  Leaders  who  exhibited  strong  Shaping  style  behaviour  appeared  to  let  their  own  personal  needs  and  agenda  dominate  how  they  took  action.  It  created  ‘situational  blindness’.  Whereas  leaders  who  could  Frame  and  Create  Capacity,  and  who  did  not  need  to  impose  their  personal  agendas,  were  more  able  to  tune  in  to  the  wider  system  and  could  therefore  tap  into  and  influence  its  energy.  The  close  paying      

of   attention   to   the   present   included   an   awareness   of   the   power   of   process.  People’s  mindsets  and  behaviour  are  influenced  by  how  the  present  moment  is  structured  –  for  example  the  diversity  of  people  present  in  a  conversation,  the  degree  of   interaction  available   to  deal  with   the  ambiguity  of  a   changing  agenda,   the   physical   space   in   which   people   meet,   how   the   organisational  hierarchy  is  represented  in  a  conversation,  and  how  information  is  displayed  as  people  talk.    

So,  creating  movement  to  get  to  a  different  place  is  about  changing  the  way  in  which  things  happen,   it   is  not  simply  about  generating  more  action  to  make  people   busy.   It’s   about   working   on   the   deeper   processes   that   structure  behaviour  in  order  to  create  new  results.  And  what  leaders  do  personally  to  enable  this  shift  in  process  seems  to  be  important;  yet  the  senior  leaders  we  were   working   with   could   not   always   be   physically   present   around   their  organisations   to   make   this   happen,   the   scope   of   their   roles   was   too   large.  Moreover,  the  change  effort  was  going  to  live  or  die  based  on  their  ability  to  create   committed   leadership   throughout   their   organisation   -­‐   the   change  could   not   rely   on   their   efforts   alone.   We   became   more   and   more   curious  about   the   question   of   how   senior   leaders   can   generate   large   scale  transformation   in   a   way   that   creates   sustainable   conditions   for   the  organisation   to   keep  moving   in   a   self   organised   fashion,  without   the   leader  having  to  heroically  carry  the  load.    

We   knew,   from   our   research   findings   into   change   approaches,   that   leaders  who  assume  that  change  is  complex  and  can  not  be  simplistically  directed  or  controlled  are  more  likely  to  have  successful  implementation.  So  what  kind  of  leader   behaviour   can   move   ‘complex   systems’?   The   risk   of   working   with  complexity  (or  assuming  that  the  world  is  non-­‐linear,  comprised  of  multiple  interacting  parts,  and  yet  related   in  one  connecting  system),   is   that  you  can  make   things  complicated.  Complicated  systems  are  rich   in  detail,  which  you  can  easily  get  bogged  down  in.  Complex  systems  are  rich  in  structure,  which  

when  mapped  can  be  startlingly  simple.  At  its  most  straightforward,  the  study  of   complexity   is   the   study   of   the   dynamics   of   the   diverse   linkages   and  interactions  among  people,  technology  and  systems  over  time.  This  dynamic  approach   conceptualises   organisational   systems   as   sets   of   agents,   or  individuals,   processes   and   mechanisms   that   generate   novel   and   emergent  outcomes   from   the   interaction   of   the   agents.   We   knew   that   a   Shaping  leadership   style   did   not   generate   novel   and   emergent   outcomes.   A  combination   of   this   leader-­‐centric   behaviour,   and   a   mechanistic   change  approach,   seemed   to  generate  a   ‘stuck’   organisation,  not   a  healthy  adaptive  one.   When   individuals   take   charge,   others   around   them   stay   frozen.   They  abdicate   their   own   responsibility   for   making   change   happen   and   put   that  onto  the  Shaping  leader.    

We   now   knew   that   the   two   factors   of   Framing   and   Creating   Capacity  leadership   were   producing   different   outcomes.   They   were   leading   to  movement  and   successful   change.  They  had  given  us   some   important   clues.  And  yet  we  wanted  to  move  beyond  working  with  two  separate  factors  and  a  list  of  behaviours.  In  using  them  with  practicing  leaders  we  began  to  develop  curiosity  around  a  set  of  questions  that  were  to  give  shape  to  the  next  stage  of  our  inquiry.    

-­‐What  are   the   interrelationships  between  Framing  and  Creating  Capacity  leadership?    

-­‐Can   we   develop   an   emerging   vision   of   a   more   integrative   model   for  leading  ongoing  change?    

-­‐What   is   it   that   leaders   can   do   to   keep   their   organisation   in   a   state   of  perpetual  motion  and  novelty?    

-­‐Can  we  develop  a  framework  for  leading  change  that  could  embrace  both  the   leader’s   behaviour   and   what   needed   to   happen   in   the  organisational  system?    

-­‐In   summary,   could   we   create   a   practical   yet   theoretically   robust  framework   that   gave   leaders   choices   and   options   for   leading   change  and   which   would   free   them   from   the   burden   of   carrying   the   entire  load?    

The  rest  of  this  chapter  shares  the  story  and  outcomes  of  our  latest  round  of  research   and   inquiry.   This   time   we   focussed   solely   on   the   leadership  practices  associated  with  successful  change  –  what  is  it  that  leaders  actually  do   -­‐   rather   than   examine   further   the  more   general   change   approaches   that  organisations   adopt.  We  were   going   to   dig   deeper   into   how   such   practices  contributed  to  change  success.    

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