Frame Bending Leadership
From "Organizational Frame Bending"
in Corporate
Transformation,
Kilmann, Covin, & Associates)
Two Dimensions
– Organizational change can be thought of in two dimensions: the scope of
the change and the temporal positioning of the change.
The Scope of the Change:
-
Changes focused on individual pieces or
components, with the goal to maintain or regain congruence, may be
called incremental changes (made within the frame of the current set of
organizational strategies and components).
-
Changes addressed to the organization as a whole
– to most or all of the organization's components, including strategy
– may be called strategic changes. These changes frequently involve
breaking out of the current pattern of congruence and helping the
organization move to a completely new configuration.
The Temporal Positioning of the
Change Relative to Key External Events:
Four Types of
Change
-
Tuning
–
Incremental changes
made in anticipation of future events; seeking to find ways to increase efficiency but not
in response to immediate need or problem.
-
Adaptation
–
Changes in reaction to
external events that make response necessary, but incremental: the response does not
require fundamental change across the organization.
-
Reorientation
–
Changes
involving fundamental re-direction where external events were anticipated; frequently
emphasize continuity with the past (especially past values); major change without sharp
break from existing frame.
-
Re-creation
–
Strategic changes in response to external events, often life threatening
to the organization, necessitate radical departure from
existing frame, including
shifts in leadership, strategy, culture.
Other Key Points
In the short term, congruence of
organizational elements seems to be related to effectiveness and performance. A system with high congruence, however, can
also be resistant to change. A core problem is how to maintain
congruence in the system while implementing change, or how to move to a whole new
definition of congruence.
The following principles appear
to lead to effective change management:
-
It's necessary to
either focus people on potential sources
of pain or create a sense of urgency around the changes.
-
For a change to engage the organization, it needs to be
clearly and obviously linked to core strategic issues.
-
It's necessary to identify a limited number of themes that serve to communicate and embody the changes.
-
A leader is needed who's able
to serve as a focal point and carries some special feel or magic. Such leaders:
-
engage in envisioning and energizing,
-
create a sense of urgency,
-
are uncompromising in providing
direction yet participative in getting people involved,
-
are tenacious in keeping
everyone's attention on the themes over a period of years, and
-
fulfill the need for leadership while allowing
the organization to grow beyond that need (continued dependence on the leader can
lead to the death of the change).
