1.5 - About University

5.6A LIGNING S YSTEMS: BUILDING S YSTEMSC OMPATIBILITY INTO C HANGE P L ANSInspired by numerous sources, including John Kotter, Tom Peters, Robert Waterman, and Peter Senge.Leaders sometimes try to push through change by improving the technical excellence of thechange itself, while ignoring the many other interacting systems that impact on the success ofthe change (e.g., structure, leadership style, skills, and so on). In these cases, the change oftensputters or fails not because the change itself was faulty or misguided, but because it was notsupported by the many other interacting systems within the organization. The idea behind thistool is simple but powerful. It stresses the importance of understanding and aligning changeinitiatives with existing interacting systems; or alternatively, of redesigning these interactingsystems to support the change initiative. Only then can change initiatives add sustainable andlasting value within organizations.S YSTEMATIC CHANGE PRINCIPLES• Change often fails because it was not supported by other interacting systems.• For successful change, leaders need to identify those systems that interact with thechange.− Which interacting systems will support or accelerate the change?− Which interacting systems will inhibit or act as barriers to your recommendedchange?− What can be done to reduce, eliminate, or even turn around these barriers?By way of example, many a task force has sought to produce an elegant career developmentprocess for their organization. Yet these efforts have sometimes been abandoned because peopleask questions such as, “Will my compensation parallel my career development?” In thisway, change fails because interacting systems (e.g., the compensation program) were notaligned with the proposed change.CompensationOrganizationalStrategyTraining &DevelopmentRewards &RecognitionImproved CareerManagementProcessSuccessionPlanningRoles &ResponsibilitiesOtherSubsystems:RecruitmentProcessSECTION 5 TOOLS FOR LEADING CHANGE 153