Five Critical Principles to Guide Organizational Change

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“Why do so many organizations flounder when there is a wealth of literature, theory, and best practices available on how to plan and execute large-scale change?”

By Wendy Heckelman In order to respond to the fast pace of Why do so many organizations floun- social, political, economic, and technologi- der when there is a wealth of literature, cal forces, organizations must be nimble theory, and best practices available on how at effectively responding to challenges and to plan and execute large-scale change? taking advantage of opportunities. Most This article will review the most recognized organizations and their leaders struggle and commonly referenced change models with developing and implementing all from William Bridges (2003), Edgar Schein types of large-scale change (Figure 1). The (2004), and John Kotter (2002). Table 1 vast majority of change initiatives are outlines the most commonly identified unsuccessful, with up to 93% of them reasons why organizations do not meet unable to meet the goals of their change their change goals. What emerges from efforts (Decker, 2012). This can be costly to this review are two major gaps in the guid- the organization in several ways, includ- ance on large-scale change. First, leaders ing, but not limited to lost competitive at all levels of the organization need more advantage, missed opportunity revenue, direction on how to successfully execute wasted dollars on the change effort, loss of change. Second, mid-level or team manag- employee engagement, productivity, and ers need help managing their team mem- possible attrition. bers through transitions. Five principles

Figure 1. Types of Large Scale Change. This figure illustrates the 4 change processes that need to be addressed to assure change management success (Bridges, 2003)

Five Critical Principles to Guide Organizational Change 13 Table 1. Analysis and Contributions on Change Management. This table summarizes the top-level change management steps from three thought leaders (Bridges, 2003; Schein, 2004; & Kotter, 2002).

William Bridges Edgar Schein John Kotter

Level of analysis Individual Individual Organizational

Steps or stages 1. Ending, losing, and 1. Unfreezing/ 1. Establish a Sense of Urgency— letting go—individuals disconfirmation— organizations need to convince at experience the “loss” individuals require least 75% of their managers that the of the old way of doing sufficient anxiety or status quo was more dangerous than things. disequilibrium to push the unknown. them towards a change. 2. Neutral zone. 2. Create the Guiding Coalition—this 2. Cognitive restructuring— group has sufficient power to 3. New beginning— individuals restructure or shepherd changes and becomes part individuals have accepted change their thinking. of a volunteer network, including all and are working to levels of the traditional hierarchy who implement the change. 3. Refreezing—individuals drive change. feel “safe” enough to problem solve and 3. Develop a Change Vision—a simple learn new methods, and compelling vision is needed to for example, based on inspire individuals. a compelling positive 4. Communicate the Vision for Buy‑In— vision. includes leaders that act consistently with the vision to demonstrate commitment. 5. Empower Broad-Based Action— removes obstacles to change. 6. Generate Short-Term Wins—shares evidence of successes to motivate. 7. Never Let Up—maintains momentum and urgency. 8. Incorporate Change into the Culture— embeds changes into culture and practice.

Unique Contributions/ • Individuals go through a change process. Contrasts

• Individuals need to be driven to change. • A compelling vision is needed to drive change.

• Provides guidance for • Greater focus on organizational dealing with continuous behavior and change execution. and simultaneous change. • Steps should be considered as “continuous” rather than “sequential” for ongoing change. are offered for overcoming change dif- What Guidance on Large-Scale Table 1 shows the three leading ficulties and to boost an organization’s Change Exists? researcher’s level of analysis, change man- likelihood of realizing its change goals. agement steps or stages, and unique contri- These principles and practices are based This review provides a strong understand- butions to the prevailing research. Bridges on insights from over twenty-five years of ing of the relevant guidance on organiza- and Schein focus on individual behavior, client engagements. tional change. thus the focus to include specific actions to address employee transition and resistance.

14 OD PRACTITIONER Vol. 49 No. 4 2017 Table 2. Categorized Reported Reasons for Organizational Change Failure. This table summarizes into five main categories why change efforts have failed.

Category Reported Reason for Change Failure and Source

1. Not creating a simple, compelling • Lacking a vision (Kotter, 1995). organizational vision for change. • Not overtly and directly tying the purpose of the change effort to the organization’s business strategy (Ackerman-Anderson, 2002).

2. Not changing individual beliefs, • Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency (Kotter, 1995). i.e. not ensuring that individuals • The organization was not prepared, and the internal culture “pushed back” against the have bought into the reasons for change (Palmer, 2012). the change effort or ignoring the organizational culture. • Initiated technological or organizational initiatives only and neglected the cultural mindset and behavioral requirements (Ackerman-Anderson, 2002). • Employee resistance (Meinert, 2012).

3. Poor planning and/or execution of • Failure to systematically plan for and create short-term wins (Kotter, 1995). the change effort. • Failure to anchor changes in the corporation’s culture (Kotter, 1995). • Failure to make systemic changes (Chaudron, 2003). • Choosing a change methodology or approach that did not suit the business, or worse still, had piled methodology upon methodology, program upon program [sic] (Palmer, 2012). • Proceeding without a clear change strategy or using a change strategy that does not fit the type of change required (Ackerman, 2002). • Failure to make decisions up front (Chaudron, 2003). • Failure to measure results (Chaudron, 2003).

4. Inadequate leadership, including • Failure to create a powerful guiding coalition (Kotter, 1995). a lack of leader involvement, • Leaders not prepared for the change of management style required to manage the preparation, and capability. changing business, or one where change is the norm (Palmer, 2012). • Leaders unwilling to change or develop themselves to overtly model the organization changes they are asking of their employees (Ackerman-Anderson, 2002). • Deciding on a strategic direction for change and then leaders remain remote from the change (sometimes called “Distance Transformation”) leaving the actual change process to less motivated or untrained employees (Palmer, 2012). • Insufficient sponsorship from senior leaders (Meinert, 2012).

5. Insufficient or confusing • Under-communicating the vision by a factor of ten (Kotter, 1995). communication. • The organization is unclear about the reasons for the change, and the overall objectives for the change (Palmer, 2012). • Creating resistance by using only top-down communications to announce change; not channeling people’s reactions to the announcement in constructive ways; and not engaging employees in shaping the future of the organization (Ackerman-Anderson, 2002).

NOTE: Items that were repetitive or less demonstrative of the categories were omitted for space considerations

Kotter emphasizes organizational behavior Examining Reported Causes of The first category centers on failing to and the steps for effective change manage- Organizational Change Failure establish a compelling vision. This is best ment execution. Both Bridges and Kotter stated by Kotter (1995), “without a clear provide useful guidance on dealing with Despite the substantial literature and vision to guide the complicated and dif- ongoing change. models available, all agree that organiza- ficult efforts of a large-scale change project, tions continue to struggle with large-scale confusion can set in, individuals may change initiatives (Decker, 2012). become unmotivated and resistance can

Five Critical Principles to Guide Organizational Change 15 Table 3. Principles of Large-Scale Change Implementation. This table summarizes the 5 key principals required for successful organizational change (Heckelman, et al., 2013). gain a foothold.” As many change management practitioners have experienced, a compelling vision is often the motivator for Key Principles change, even when there is much uncer- 1. Change takes place more effectively when worked at three levels: organizational, tainty on how best to execute the change team, and individual. effort. To illustrate, one of our clients, a global pharmaceutical company, recog- 2. Change is adopted by connecting individual beliefs to organizational results. nized the confluence of factors altering 3. Change requires a planned and disciplined implementation cascade. healthcare delivery and decisions. As part of a major transformation effort, leaders 4. Change is accelerated by equipping leaders to lead through the transition. created a compelling vision to double sales 5. Change implementation calls for frequent and ongoing communication and and profitability over a five-year period. calibration. This vision motivated leaders and employees to engage in various large-scale change initiatives that included re-organization, culture transformation, and process comprehensive communications strategy, “change leadership,” noting that “almost improvement. We will return to this case whereby the focus is to clearly convey the nobody is very good at it.” Therefore, study again. vision for change and develop an effective the first outstanding need that emerges The second category relates to individ- communications plan. Most individuals get from this review is specific guidance and ual beliefs and the importance of achieving their cues on how to act from their direct preparation for leaders at all levels of the buy-in and acceptance of the change effort. manager, therefore, the manager’s commu- organization. The second outstanding need If an individual does not see or share the nication and reinforcement of the rationale pertains to change planning and execution. organization’s vision and rationale for the for change is critical to success. Evidence shows that change planning and changes, the individual can be a source of execution remains the most problematic resistance. Resistance often reflects that Putting it all Together: Diagnosing area for organizations (Table 2). This clearly individuals and teams are more comfort- Outstanding Needs demonstrates that organizations should able with the current state than they are and would benefit greatly from additional with the proposed changes. Change is hard work (Meinert, 2012), but guidance in this area. The third category focuses on the gaps emerge when the change models are importance of effective planning and exe- examined against the Categorized Reported Change Execution Principles to cution of the change effort. This category Reasons for Organizational Change Failure Address Outstanding Needs contains the greatest number of items, (Table 2). demonstrating that many different types of Bridges’, Schein’s, and Kotter’s models Working with hundreds of large and small planning and execution failures can occur. provide guidance to avoid the first, second, organizations across all four types of A common organizational mistake is tak- third, and fifth change failure categories change (structural, cost cutting, process, ing the time to announce and explain the (Table 2). For the first category, they all and cultural), five principles are offered to change effort and rationale, but doing little mention the importance of creating a ensure successful large-scale change imple- to provide direction to sustain the change compelling vision to drive change. For the mentation (Table 3). Tested and validated,1 effort and address its impact over time. second category, Bridges’ and Schein’s these principles address the change failure Another common mistake is not measur- models address individuals’ beliefs and categories and position an organization ing progress to enable course corrections. how to guide others through change. for successful large-scale change execution The fourth category includes the many For the third category, Kotter’s steps are (Table 2). issues related to change leadership. Where meant to provide an execution roadmap There are two phases to execution leaders have inadequate guidance on their for large-scale change. Finally, for the fifth planning. First, leaders need to create an role in driving change, this trickles down to category, Kotter also highlights the impor- effective change strategy by making key a lack of support from their managers. This tance of communication and the perils of decisions about what is changing, why it is is partially due to the fact that organiza- miscommunication. changing, and who needs to be involved. tions are not giving full accountability to None of these three leading experts Second, this strategy needs to be used to leadership at all levels to follow the plan emphasize the importance of properly create the actual change approach or execu- accordingly. preparing leaders or managers to guide tion plan. This plan will define how the The final category includes concerns individuals and teams through the transi- change will be cascaded and implemented about insufficient or confusing commu- tion, which is part of the fourth category. throughout the organization. For example, nication. Several best practices emerge in In Table 2, Kotter himself acknowledges each of these principles were applied in a this category, including the creation of a this gap, calling for greater emphasis on disciplined approach when a large division

16 OD PRACTITIONER Vol. 49 No. 4 2017 Figure 2. Principle one: Change takes place more effectively when worked at three levels: organizational, team, and individual of the global pharmaceutical company vision and strategy for the change effort changed team, they will need to be able to embarked on a merger integration. This and determine who should be involved. “jump-start” or quickly build a high per- multi-billion dollar company, operating in These leaders should spend time defining forming team to meet this change and the over 30 countries, with multiple business a clear rationale for why change is required ongoing performance expectations. Orga- units needed a consistent and well-planned (to inform the vision) and thinking through nizations often underestimate the needs of framework to execute the merger integra- what the effects of the change will be (to middle managers in their change planning tion to achieve desired financial and organi- inform the strategy). This includes deter- efforts and fail to devote sufficient time or zational goals. mining the roles that different organi- resources to ensure they are prepared to zational groups or teams will play in the transition their teams. 1. Change takes place more effectively larger change effort. when worked at three levels: For the global pharmaceutical com- 2. Change is adopted by connecting organizational, team, and individual. pany, senior leadership recognized that individual beliefs to organizational Other theorists have noted that change integration success rested first with how results. needs to occur at more than one level of the senior leaders defined and commu- The individual level is where the personal the organization. One of the best examples nicated the vision and strategy. During dynamics of the transition should be is Kanter, Stein, and Jick’s (1992) categori- a special international leadership sum- addressed. Basically, individuals experience zation of change stakeholders into strate- mit, top leaders where brought together the same emotional turmoil they feel when gists (the leaders who create the vision), to “create one culture, align on business major change takes place in their private implementers (the middle managers who imperatives, and build trust amongst new lives (e.g., death, divorce, or relocation) and translate the vision), and recipients (who leaders.” These senior leaders left with a they can react in complex, unpredictable, must adopt the changes). However, there clear plan of action and an implementa- and sometimes contradictory ways. The is little attention paid to the fact that the tion cascade to drive organizational change individual level involves addressing the “implementers” or middle managers may and provide tools for teams to execute the “me” issues. Success will require clarity not have the same kind of leadership train- change strategy. about an individual’s role, responsibilities, ing as the strategists. Strategists are usually The team level is where strategic goals and behavioral expectations. Be specific the top leaders of an organization. They are translated into an implementation and identify behaviors needed to start, stop, may have direct reports, but middle manag- plan. Middle managers must address how and continue doing, to be effective. Leaders ers (implementers) are more likely to be in they will achieve the goals of the larger at all levels need to address these issues charge of a team of workers and therefore change effort with their team(s). First, they with themselves and their team members. require unique guidance on how to lead must agree to “buy-in” or fully accept the Leaders and managers also need to be and inspire teams and individuals, through change vision themselves and then be able prepared to effectively coach and reinforce change. Figure 2 defines the key objectives to inspire others. This requires accurately behavioral expectations. Execution plan- that need to be achieved at each level. determining the change impact to their ning requires effort at all three of these The organizational level is where team and diagnosing team weaknesses levels, but it starts with strategic thinking senior or change leaders clearly define the and strengths. If they are given a new or at the organizational level.

Five Critical Principles to Guide Organizational Change 17 To truly guide individuals through the of the change effort ensures that indi- organization’s overall success. Each transition and produce desired behavior viduals have bought into the reasons for manager or team leader must translate change, the organization needs to establish the change effort. Senior leaders need to the senior leaders’ implementation a connection between individual beliefs create a detailed vision and strategy that plan into a local execution plan for their and desired organizational results. Dur- managers can use to easily determine the teams. The more direction that senior ing the merger integration of the global behaviors and expected outcomes from leaders provide in their cascade, the bet- pharmaceutical company, the senior their team. Managers must then have the ter these local plans can be. leadership team dedicated time to defin- training and autonomy to shape beliefs »» Efforts to align tools, i.e. incentives, ing cultural beliefs for the newly inte- and produce results. performance metrics, and learning grated company. This session provided the venue for leaders to move from “talking There are numerous ways that leadership needs to be prepared about” cultural tenets related to accountability and customer focus to internaliz- to lead change efforts. First, in order to sell others on the ing these beliefs and aligning on actions change effort and manage them through the transition, leaders going forward. With this client, the following inter- and managers need to “buy-it” themselves and manage their ventions were incorporated to increase the own reactions to the change. This is why the implementation likelihood of success and limit the potential for failure: cascade is so important. Managers cannot address their teams’ »» Helping individuals to see the relation- reactions and resistance to the risks and uncertainties involved ship between their own beliefs, how they act, and the results of the organiza- in transition without also addressing their own. tion, will support change efforts. »» Identifying and addressing any poten- 3. Change requires a planned and programs with established and defined tial misalignment between an indi- disciplined implementation cascade. goals of the change effort. vidual’s beliefs about the organization’s Creating large-scale organizational change »» A map conveying how information will vision, strategy, and values is critical requires a detailed planning and a disci- be cascaded down through the organi- to changing actions and ultimately, plined launch execution plan to be effec- zation and what needs to be commu- results. What is communicated about tive. Planning needs to be done at the nicated to whom and when. Creating the vision and strategy may not be rein- organizational level by a “Guiding Coalition an effective information cascade to forced by what employees experience (Kotter, 2012)” or cross-functional team of the leadership ranks of the organiza- on a day-to-day basis. If this misalign- senior leaders (Kotter, 2007). After deter- tion helps gain buy-in at each level and ment is not addressed, individuals will mining the change strategy, this group encourages leaders, managers, and be less motivated to act in ways that will needs to oversee the creation of an orga- individuals to take accountability (Con- produce the desired results. nizational-level change implementation nors & Smith, 1999) for implementing »» Instilling the importance of leaders and plan. At minimum, an organization-level the change effort. managers to create experiences that implementation plan should contain: »» A plan for customizing the cascade to shape and reinforce desired beliefs. For »» A planned cascade that addresses (at address subgroup differences. Most example, if you want an individual to each level of the organization) how buy- companies have subgroups with their believe they are empowered to make in and ownership will be obtained, what own unique subcultures (Schein, decisions, they need to be given experi- will need to change, and how individual 1992). Senior leaders should custom- ences that demonstrate their decisions transitions will be handled. ize communications and tactics to help will be acknowledged and respected— »» Guidance for ensuring there is uniform determine the message that will best even when a misjudgment may occur. execution across the organization. Fail- resonate with them and the experiences »» Examine the factors or issues that ure to provide a consistent approach for that the team leaders can use to inspire help perpetuate undesirable beliefs. leaders to follow means that managers change beliefs. These may provide insight into what is could be moving forward in inconsis- limiting behavioral change and what tent or even conflicting directions. Circling back to our global pharmaceutical action(s) can be taken to better align for »» Specific guidance for how manag- company, during the merger integration, intended results. ers can implement change with their all of the above recommendations were teams. Establish clear goals on what incorporated into the planned implemen- Creating alignment between an indi- each team must accomplish and how tation cascade. Leadership recognized vidual’s beliefs and the values and goals they are expected to contribute to the the importance of dedicating time and

18 OD PRACTITIONER Vol. 49 No. 4 2017 approach to meet the needs of their team or themselves. Organizations should give leaders and managers tools and resources to help them: 1. Assess their own reaction to the change and determine what they need to do to personally accept and champion the change effort (this may include specific training or knowledge). 2. Assess the impact of the change on their business responsibilities and potential risks. 3. Create or “jump start” a high per- forming team to meet the goals of the change and ongoing performance expectations. 4. Coach and develop individual team members through the transition—be able to manage different reactions to the changes.

During the merger integration of the Figure 3. The 5 C’s of Transition Leadership (Heckelman, 2012). global pharmaceutical company, the This figure summarizes our recommended method of change implementation. 5C’s of Transition Leadership® model was applied to ready the leaders to guide resources to the development of change uncertainties involved in transition without their teams through the transition. The management tools and a consistent also addressing their own. approach was cascaded to all levels of the roll-out. The outcome of the consistent Leaders at all levels of the organization organization resulting in quicker adop- implementation cascade led to over 90 require skills to guide their direct reports tion of the change, mitigation of business Team Jump Starts across the organization. (including managers and team leaders) risks including customer transitions, and During these sessions, each leader had the through the transition. This can be defined aligning teams around business goals and opportunity to convey with conviction the as “transition” leadership which is about priorities. All leaders were responsible to vision and need for change. As a team, they leading through change. Transition- develop transition plans for their employ- aligned on business priorities, internalized leadership requires guiding everyone— ees and teams. the cultural tenets, and began the process at all levels—through the desired change. of forming an integrated team encompass- Direct reports might not be convinced that 5. Change implementation calls for ing the new leaders, new members, new the proposed changes will produce desired frequent and ongoing communication processes, and new priorities. results. They may question their own and calibration. capability to be effective. They may ques- Communications planning is a key com- 4. Change is accelerated by equipping tion how the changes impact their com- ponent. Creating and communicating clear leaders to lead through the transition. pensation and ability to remain successful. messages creates common understanding, Providing a common change execution Leaders need to coach each team and proactively addresses misconceptions, and framework and tools addresses one of the individual on these and other issues, while sustains efforts. This level of planning critical gaps (Figure 3). simultaneously managing and overcoming should never be considered an after- There are numerous ways that leader- their own doubts about the proposed thought. Communications are the primary ship needs to be prepared to lead change strategic direction. vehicle for conveying the core messages of efforts. First, in order to sell others on the The organization can help their lead- the change effort. change effort and manage them through ers. Leaders need a clear roadmap, clarity The organization-level execution plan the transition, leaders and managers need on their role and expectations, and support should contain a communications plan to “buy-it” themselves and manage their and resources, to develop their skills. Many with the following details: own reactions to the change. This is why organizations either provide too little sup- »» Responsibility and timing for crafting the implementation cascade is so impor- port, which leaves leaders floundering, or, senior leader-level communications. tant. Managers cannot address their teams’ they are overly prescriptive and leaders are reactions and resistance to the risks and not able to customize the implementation

Five Critical Principles to Guide Organizational Change 19 »» How and when different communica- to help them track progress towards team- and organizational results to better tions methods will be used and with level goals. understand their role in making change whom. Calibration best practices include: efforts work. »» How updates on progress will be mea- »» Determining clear metrics to measure 3. Organizations must create a disciplined sured and reported (and to whom). progress (and measure them often). change execution plan and cascade to »» Communication of progress (do this provide sufficient direction for leaders Senior level communications should regularly and creatively—with a focus throughout the organization. include why the change is happening, what on business results). 4. Organizations must fully equip leaders exactly is happening, who is going to be »» Process for addressing issues. at all levels to drive change. affected, and finally, how. Communications »» Recognition of/Reward for effective and 5. Effective communication and calibra- should convey senior leaders’ vision for appropriate contributions, decisions, tion is critical for change execution the change. Leaders should take the time and behavior. success. to craft speaking points that will resonate, inspire, and mitigate potential concerns. Ongoing measurement and calibration helps leaders identify In local execution efforts, managers and team leaders need to sincerely embrace the and address roadblocks, take steps to correct any potential change vision, reinforcing the senior level issues, and recalibrate plans before things get too far off the messages, and creating additional custom- ized messages for their teams. rails. Small successes should be identified and publicized to The leaders in the merger integration maintain momentum (Kotter, 2012). Best practices help others case, ensured a robust communication plan that included multiple touch points, to see positive change results as realistically achievable. various mediums, unique branding, and Celebrating success as it occurs is critical given the long-term constant reinforcement of key messages during weekly updates. Updates were nature of large-scale change. designed to make selection announce- ments, highlight successes, clarify direc- This fifth principle provides guidance and The case illustrated throughout this article tion, and reduce confusion about decisions can be used to address the fifth (inad- highlights the practical application of the being made. To avoid confusion, both equate communication) and the third (poor above principles. When these principles are formal and informal communication execution planning) category of reasons for incorporated into a change execution plan, emphasized the importance of being hon- change failure. It emphasizes the impor- the likelihood for achieving desired results est, sharing what was known, and what still tance of clear and frequent communication increases. was undecided. Furthermore, the com- and ongoing measurement in large-scale munication plan included ways to bolster change efforts. It also explains their role Endnote employee engagement and input with criti- in overall execution planning as critical for cal feedback loops. keeping large-scale change efforts on track. 1. These principles have been tested and Ongoing measurement and calibration validated by first building the model on helps leaders identify and address road- Summary well-established research theories. A blocks, take steps to correct any potential review of the literature resulted in the issues, and recalibrate plans before things This article offers five principles to guide framework developed to identify why get too far off the rails. Small successes change efforts that supplement existing organizations fail when implementing should be identified and publicized to literature and address outstanding gaps large scale change. That is the prin- maintain momentum (Kotter, 2012). Best in guidance on large-scale change. These ciples were developed by first focusing practices help others to see positive change gaps include inadequate preparation of on what the literature identifies as the results as realistically achievable. Celebrat- leaders (at all levels of the organization) needed steps to successfully imple- ing success as it occurs is critical given the when guiding their team(s) through the ment change management. Then, again long-term nature of large-scale change. change transition, thereby not creating using the established literature, we Senior leaders should have deter- effective change execution plans. The summarized the reasons why change mined the metrics for short- and long-term principles state: efforts fail. After matching the steps success, how they will be measured, how 1. Change needs to occur at all levels of needed to implement change with often, and how they should be reported. the company: organization, team, and the reasons why change implementa- At the local or team level, managers and individual. tion fails, we were able to identify the team leaders may need additional metrics 2. Individuals need to see the connec- principles needed to succeed in change tion between their individual beliefs implementation. So, the principles

20 OD PRACTITIONER Vol. 49 No. 4 2017 Wendy Heckelman, PhD, President and Founder of WLH Consulting, Inc. (“WLH”) has were developed based on well-estab- Heckelman, W., Unger, & S. Garofano, C. lished principles and literature findings (2013). Driving culture transformation more than 25 years of experience of change management. during large scale change. OD Practitio- working with Fortune 100 clients The principles have been tested ner, 45(3), 25–30. in the areas of pharmaceutical, by using them in implementing Heckelman, W. (2012). The 5Cs of transi- animal and consumer healthcare, change across organizations over the tion leadership. White paper. biotech, financial and distribution past several years. Each principle was Canter, R.M., Stein, B.A., & Jick, T.D. services, international non-profit discussed and endorsed by different (1992). The challenge of organizational levels of supervising teams across the change: How companies experience it organizations, and growing entre- organizations we worked with. That and leaders guide it. New York, NY: Free preneurial companies. Clients is organizations helped us validate Press. consistently rely upon Wendy the relationship between the problem Kotter, J. (1995). Leading change: Why to guide them through complex (implementing change) and the solu- transformation efforts fail. Harvard and large-scale change projects, tion (implementing change using the Business Review, March-April, 59–67. typically related to strategic principles proposed). Kotter, J. (2007). Leading change: Why Finally, a survey was developed to transformation efforts fail. https:// planning and execution. Heckel- assess change agility readiness and hbr.org/2007/01/leading-change-why- man has been a strategic partner individual change agility capacity. The transformation-efforts-fail in multiple merger integration survey was administered to clients Kotter, J. (2011). Change management vs. projects, as well as numerous (N approximately 300) using the 5Cs change leadership: What’s the differ- large-scale field force expan- framework as a baseline and post mea- ence? Forbes online. sions and restructurings. As a sure. Results confirmed that the prin- Kotter, J. (2012). Leading change. Boston, ciples and framework were valid and MA: Harvard Business Review Press. skilled facilitator of executive prepared organizations and individuals Meinert, D. (2012). Wings of change. HR level programs, Heckelman has to implement large scale change. Magazine, November, 30–36. worked with leadership groups Palmer, J. (2012). Change management in over 20 countries throughout References in practice: Why does change Europe, Latin America, and Asia. fail? Retrieved from: http://www. She also serves as an executive Ackerman-Anderson, L., & Anderson, articledashboard.com/Article/Change- D. (2002). The ten most common Management-In-Practice-Why-Does- coach to many senior and execu- mistakes in leading transformational Change-Fail/35180 tive leaders. Heckelman holds change. Retrieved from http://change- Schein, E.H. (1992). Organizational culture MS and PhD degrees in Organiza- leadersnetwork.com/free-resources/ and leadership (2nd ed.). San Francisco, tional Psychology from Columbia ten-common-mistakes-in-leading-transfor- CA: Jossey-Bass. University, and a Master’s in mation. Schein, E. (2004). Organizational culture Education in Counseling from Bridges, W. (2003). Managing transitions and leadership (3rd ed.). San Francisco, (2nd Ed). Cambridge, MA: Perseus CA: Jossey-Bass. Columbia. She can be reached at Books. Stragalas, N. (2010). Improving change [email protected]. Chaudron, D. (2003). The nine pitfalls implementation: Practical adaptations of organizational change. Retrieved of Kotter’s Model. OD Practitioner, from: http://www.organizedchange.com/ 42(1),31–38. ninepitfallsoforganizationalchange.htm Connors, R., & Smith, T. (1999). Journey to the Emerald City: Implement the Oz Principle to achieve a competitive edge through a culture of accountability. New York: Prentice Hall Press. Decker, P. (2012). Predicting implementation failure in organization change. Journal of Organizational Culture, Com- munications and Conflict, 16(2),39–60.

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