What it's about
In this article, I would like to transfer the five steps of effective change work from therapy and coaching to the change of organizations. The idea is that what needs to be considered in a mind, i.e. in a client, during change work also works when it comes to a necessary change between the minds, for example in teams. The whole thing briefly and concisely as a food for thought without diving deep into theoretical details or implementation variants.
Introduction
Rudi Baumeister tells us at lunch:
"We want to make a change in our organization and my boss told me that I would be the change manager from now on. However, I have never done anything like this before. On the other hand, it can't be that difficult. What is to be changed, namely to switch from a purely hierarchical line organization to a matrix organization with employee pools, is logically explainable and understandable. It'll work out! I simply make a sentence with PowerPoint slides and call the approximately 250 employees together for an information event. Then I explain it to them. I mean, we are all adults, rational people. It'll work out!"
General Psychotherapy – Five Steps of Effective Change Work
In his book "Neuropsychotherapy" in 2004, the famous Bernese psychology professor Klaus Grawe (1943 – 2005) described five steps of effective change work as the result of his meta-study.
He describes that effective therapeutic change work works when the therapist
- builds the therapeutic alliance,
- activates the problem state,
- clarifies motivation,
- resources enabled, and
- links the problem state to the resource state.
He also postulated that a change is only successful if it also changes something in the brain. The efficacy researcher Gerhard Roth from the University of Bremen has investigated and confirmed this thesis using magnetic resonance imaging. From a neurobiological point of view, these five steps make sense and are suitable for bringing about neurological changes, i.e. "learning".
The Five Steps from the Perspective of Organizational Change
My thesis now is that what is true in a head is just as true for change between heads. Why? Well, because every person has an organization inside them. It is important to balance, prioritize, etc. the different roles that everyone carries within themselves. What is more important right now? My beliefs as a son or daughter? Or the one as an employee? Maybe I'm a self-employed person or entrepreneur and the tasks here are more important than the family ones.
So let's look at the five steps from the perspective of organizational change. What could be understood by this in this context?
Building the therapeutic alliance
The therapeutic alliance as a prerequisite for successful change means that there is a basis of trust in the system of changers and changed. Without trust, it becomes infinitely difficult to motivate those involved to change their behavior in a motivated way.
Trust in this context could mean that
- The people of the organization have confidence in themselves
- The people of the organization trust those who initiate the change
- The people of the organization believe that the methods of change make sense and work
- The people of the organization and the initiators of the change must believe together that the goal of the change is helpful and meaningful
- The initiators of change must believe in their change methods
This trust should be there at the beginning of the change process.
Activation of the problem state
All people directly or indirectly involved in organizational change should be "awakened" and be connected in their thinking to the motivation behind change.
- Where do we come from?
- Where do we stand today (and is no longer so optimal)
- Where should it go (and be different in the future)?
Everyone should have a uniform "framework of thought" through which they can understand each other, but which also allows the individual specifics of the individual to dock.
Motivational clarification
In the case of motivational clarification, it is not enough to Motive of the initiators of a change. All those involved in the change have an individual view of this event and their own specific motivation. How do you get those involved to take the perspective of the initiators so that their own behavior can be reflected from this point of view? Which participant has which motive in the interaction? What is the point of the change? What does each individual have to do with it?
This can be done, for example, by clarifying the roles and clarifying the supply and service relationships between the roles with the involvement of the parties involved.
Resource Activation
People need to be emotionally activated so that learning can happen. Emotions are only activated when the five senses are specifically addressed and the future can be experienced sensually. An event design that does exactly this is not trivial. Storytelling with the use of good metaphors, for example, which has recently been increasingly forced, does just that. Even better are workshops that physically activate the participants by "doing".
Objectively, the question arises here as to what organizational measures are necessary so that the change can take place taking into account the general and individual motives. This can be anything from the definition of an organizational chart to further training measures, construction measures, the purchase of materials, concrete agreements on delivery and performance obligations
Linking the problem state to the resources
After all the necessary resources are known and can be activated, it is important to switch step by step from the old to the future organizational state with a plan that is transparent to all parties involved. In this way, the change can become real.
Result
After I had told Rudi Baumeister about Grawe's 5 steps, he started to wonder whether his planned "It's logical" frontal sound reinforcement event was really expedient. Above all, he wanted to think about what could be done to strengthen the basis of trust. I should deepen the topic with him again and he wanted to reflect on his case against this model in another appointment. "I think my job can even be fun this way!" he said when we had arranged the appointment.
The 5-step model of Grawe's General Psychotherapy is aimed at change work with individuals. I think it's also a really good guide to what to do when confronting people in an organization with change. Unfortunately, pure logic does not reach the heart of the employees.
So let's follow the 5 steps, ensure trust of all those involved and involve those affected in a way that arouses good emotions.
This is how the organizational change can be more successful!
