You embark on a change programme… and hit resistance. Whodda thought?

We all know the patterns of change management: decide on where you want to be, plan how you will get there and by when, implement the plan, deal with “resistance to change”. Do it again…

What’s going on?

This pattern is driven largely by the thinking that is appropriate for technical change. We see it in the construction industry, software development and change control and all industries that deal with things, not people. What we need is a change framework that deals with people, not things…

So where can we find such a “change framework”? One that makes change safe for the people affected by the change? In society, we find that framework in the political sphere and Karl Popper had a few things to say about that in his book, “The Open Society and its Enemies”. There he outlined two types of social change: utopian and piecemeal.

Some characteristics of utopian social engineering and what it has to do with organisational change.

• One characteristic of utopian social engineering is the need to “clean the slate” – a common characteristic of IT-driven change programmes.
• It also requires that an ultimate political/organisational aim or Ideal State is determined before taking any practical action – the planning phase, usually conducted by a select few, in isolation.
• It requires a strong, centralised rule of a few which, at a country level, tends to lead to a dictatorship – the change board and programme director who determine what change will be “implemented”.

All three are readily identifiable as characteristics of your average change programme in any large organisation. The resistance to such programmes comes not from the intent, no-one actually comes to work to do a bad job, but rather the way it is implemented.

From Popper, “…The difficulty arises out of the fact that authoritarianism must discourage criticism; accordingly, the benevolent dictator (or Programme Director) will not hear complaints concerning the measures he has taken.”

Note the emphasis on measures, not intent.

And your employees are quite possibly inspired by Thoreau, albeit unconsciously… “If you see someone coming toward you with the intention of doing you good, run for your life”.

Totalitarianism is undemocratic in any form. The only difference is the vision of the Ideal State. And what concerns us here is how we can use the lessons from political change initiatives in organisations.

Now, should an enterprise be democratic? The answer to that depends entirely on whether your employment relations are built on buying a pair of hands or whether you wish to use the brain that comes with them…

If you are employing a pair of hands, you can probably get by using the utopian approach to social engineering. If, however, you are wanting to engage the brain that comes free with those hands, you’ll need to seek an alternative.

Which goes by the term piecemeal social engineering. Its primary characteristic is to fix that which causes harm.

• There is no grand plan other than to continuously improve
• No “ideal state” other than to be the best you can be
• No strong, centralised leadership other than to set the overarching goals of the enterprise.

How do you implement a piecemeal approach?

• First, remember that the primary change occurs in the social not technical sphere of your organisation and that technical changes come after, to support the social change.
• Then, welcome the use of reason alongside inspiration and be open to constructive criticism. It is a healthy means to check yourself and your intentions and methods. If it is your methods that come under attack, validate the criticism then change the method. If it is your intent that comes under attack, no methodology can help you…
• Speaking of methodology, there are many. But adjusting along the way as you learn from mistakes is not bad. And has the effect of engaging those affected by the change in implementing the change.
• Finally, realise that the piecemeal approach will yield sustainable social change and suits most programmes of continuous improvement. This is the key to making change safe.

Utopian social engineering – most organisational change programmes are run according to this framework.

Piecemeal social engineering – the key to lower cost, more sustainable, higher impact safe change.