“Change from the Inside Out” by Erika Andersen is a book about the importance of building change capability in individuals and organizations. The book offers a straightforward process for overcoming resistance to change and building support for change from the ground up.
In addition to providing tips on how to build change capability, “Change from the Inside Out” also discusses the psychology of change and why humans are hardwired to resist it. Andersen provides tools and strategies for overcoming this resistance and making change a positive force in individuals and organizations.
Step 1: clarify the change and why it’s needed
The Five-Step Change Model’s first step is to clarify the change and its purpose. This involves surfacing and framing the change, clarifying the risks and rewards, and creating a compelling case for the change.
Leaders should agree on the shape of the change, identify potential risks and benefits, and communicate a clear rationale for why the change is necessary to motivate employees to embrace it.
Keep the change going contd.
To institutionalize ongoing adjustments, figure out how to “bake in” the ongoing adjustments to ensure the change keeps moving in a positive direction. This will make your leaders, employees, and organization more likely to reap the maximum benefits from the change and shift toward seeing continuous change as the new normal.
To make systems and processes, structures, and culture more change-capable, consider additional changes you may need to make to ensure ongoing success and make future changes easier to implement. Making these changes will move your organization toward becoming truly change-capable.
Step 2: envision the future state
Step 2 of the change model is about envisioning the future state after the change. The goals are to clarify the scope of the change, create a shared picture of success, and establish key measures of success.
Leaders need to be practical in describing the benefits of the change, including cost savings, productivity increases, employee engagement, and increased market share. It’s important to be realistic in planning to gain employee buy-in and avoid credibility hits.
Lead the Transition contd.
Identify those most affected in Step 4 and clarify their endings and beginnings for a successful transition. Create a transition plan focused on those most impacted and execute it along with the change plan to support and accelerate their understanding and acceptance of the change.
STEP 3: Build the Change
Step 3 of the five-step change model involves building the change plan and expanding the movement toward change beyond the leadership team. The four goals of Step 3 are to create the change team, identify and engage stakeholders, build the change plan, and assess readiness for the change.
To create the change team, select people who are likely to move through the change process quickly and are open to the idea that others may need more time. Choose individuals who are credible and competent in the organization and are viewed positively by others.
STEP 5: Keep the Change Going
Step 5 is all about ensuring that your hard work in the previous steps isn’t wasted and that your change is sustained.
To make sure your organization is becoming more change-capable overall, the goals of Step 5 are to monitor and report progress, institutionalize ongoing adjustments, and make systems/processes, structures, and culture more change-capable.
To monitor and report progress, establish simple and effective ways to keep track of progress and share the results. This will give you a real-time sense of what’s working and not working and allow you to address problems and reinforce successes quickly.
Build the change contd.
- Identify and engage the stakeholders who will need to understand and support the change for it to be successful. These stakeholders can exist at any level in the organization.
- Engage the change team in building the change plan, including identifying necessary resources and how organizational systems, processes, structures, and culture may need to be altered to support the change. Also, consider how to communicate the change to the whole organization.
- Assess the organization’s readiness for the change before taking it to the rest of the organization. Consider leaders, individuals, and the organization’s systems, structures, and culture relative to the proposed change. This assessment will give you a sense of where the organization is starting from in making the change.
STEP 4: Lead the Transition
This is where the change begins to happen, where all the rest of those affected are supported through their change arc: proposed change, mind-set shift, and—the place where it all becomes real—new behaviors.
This fourth step answers the question, “How will we ensure people transition successfully?” —that is, how will we make sure as many people as possible move through their change arc so they’re willing and able to make the change?
The goals during Step 4 are to identify those most affected; to clarify endings and beginnings for those most affected; to plan to accelerate people’s transition; and to execute the change and transition plans you’ve created, making the change as smooth as possible for everyone in the organization.
