cameron and green making-sense-of-change-management

The underpinning theoryImplementers are most effective when they listen, inquire and clarifytheir questions and concerns with the sponsor at the beginning of aninitiative. This means they can commit to an effort rather than falselycomplying early on and sabotaging later.Change agentA change agent is the facilitator of the change. He or she helps thesponsor and the implementers stay aligned with each other. The effectivenessof this role depends on the sponsor not abandoning the changeagent to the implementers. The sponsor must not ‘drop the ball’. Whenthis happens the change agent can over-function, making the system ineffectiveand unbalanced, and the change temporary.The change agent acts as data gatherer, educator, advisor, meeting facilitatorand coach. Most often he or she has no direct line authority over theimplementers, and is therefore in a naturally occurring triangle amongsponsor–implementer–agent.AdvocateAn advocate has an idea about how a change can happen but needs asponsor for his or her idea. All change needs to be sponsored.Advocates are often passionate and highly motivated to make thechange happen. They must remember the key factor, which is to get asponsor. Without this, advocates become frustrated and demoralized.Shrewd advocates promote ideas by showing their compatibility withissues near and dear to sponsors’ change projects and goals.We have included Mary Beth O’Neill’s definitions of these rolesbecause they provide a clear framework for those approaching organizationalchange, and illustrate the range of leadership roles necessary forchange to occur. Our experience is that people at all levels in organizationsfind this framework useful for kicking off and sustaining change,and for judging how well the community of leaders is supporting thechange process. This model seems to provide the necessary amount ofclarity in today’s organizations, where hierarchy is unclear and jobs andprojects overlap. There is often a need for a simple but flexible way ofdefining who does what in any process of change.158