Articles

🤔 Change and transformation: just interchangeable terminology?

November 23, 2022

A computer scientist by training, I made a major career shift in the mid-90s. I moved away from technology to tackle the human challenge of adopting change, technological or not.

I was part of a large R&D project on the subject for a few years in order to identify the factors that promote the adoption of new ways of doing things. I analyzed an impressive amount of literature and had the privilege of working with various academics and experienced practitioners.

We have concluded that there are different types of changes according to their scope and depth, and that they do not materialize under the same conditions, nor through the same process!

Notably rare and different from the others: truly disruptive change (radical) 💡

After more than 70 missions helping organizations in the adoption of new ways of doing things, I remain convinced that popular change management neglects the special nature of disruptive change. The latter is becoming less rare with the organizational and/or digital transformation craze.

We are familiar with incremental changes that sustain the continuity of the organization’s activities. Most of popular methods and approaches support this type of change: optimization, improvement, enhancement, evolution, refurbishment, modernization, etc.

However, we are much less familiar with radical changes that require a rupture with mentalities, rules and ways of doing things. This is what we mean when we talk about reinventing, innovating or transforming ourselves.

📌 Uprooting and rupture seem to be unavoidable prerequisites for any real transformation.

To achieve a breakthrough change, one must inevitably accept:

▶️ a reframing of thoughts and ideologies

▶️ a letting go of adopted habits, conventions, and norms, especially in the beginning

▶️ an openness to explore at length in areas of discomfort, to tolerate the unknown and ambiguity

▶️ an acceptance of deep and wide-ranging questioning of everything, but the goals

▶️ a higher-than-normal tolerance for risk with a reduced degree of control

▶️ the adoption of new approaches with a focus on relevance, essentials, and sufficiency.

Approaches that foster creativity and innovation have similar requirements to be useful and effective.

Isn’t it time for “change management” to pay more attention to the distinct disruptive nature of radical change?

Food for thought!