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 change work within one mind, i.e., with a client, also works when it concerns necessary change between minds, i.e., with teams, for example. The whole thing, short and sweet, as a thought impulse without delving into deep theoretical details or implementation variations.
Introduction
Rudi Baumeister says at lunch:
"We want to make a change in our organization and my boss told me that I am 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 needs to be changed, namely switching from a purely hierarchical line organization to a matrix organization with employee pools, is logically explainable and understandable. It will work out! I'll just make a set of PowerPoint slides and call the around 250 employees together for an information event. Then I'll explain it to them. I mean, we are all adult, rational human beings. It will work out!"
General psychotherapy – five steps of effective change work
The famous Bern psychologist Professor Klaus Grawe (1943 – 2005) described five steps of effective change work in his book ‘Neuropsychotherapy’ in 2004 as the result of his meta-study.
He describes that effective therapeutic change work is effective when the therapist
- builds the therapeutic alliance,
- activates the problem state,
- clarifies the motivation,
- Resources activated, and
- links the problem state with the resource state.
He further postulated that a change is only successful if it also changes something in the brain. The effectiveness researcher Gerhard Roth from the University of Bremen investigated and confirmed this thesis using magnetic resonance imaging. From a neurobiological perspective, these five steps are sensible and suitable for bringing about neurological changes, i.e. "learning".
The five steps from the perspective of organizational change
My thesis now is that what applies within one mind applies just as much to changes between minds. Why? Well, because every person has an organization within themselves. There, the different roles that everyone carries within them must be balanced, prioritized, etc. What is more important right now? My beliefs as a son or daughter? Or those as an employee? Maybe I am self-employed or an 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 states that there is a basis of trust in the system of changers and those being changed. Without trust, it will be 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 trust in themselves
- The people in the organization trust those who initiate the change
- The people in the organization believe that the methods for change are meaningful and work
- The people in the organization and the initiators of the change must jointly believe that the goal of the change is helpful and meaningful
- The initiators of the change must believe in their change methods
This trust should be present at the beginning of the change process.
Activation of the problem state
All individuals directly or indirectly involved in the organizational change should be "awakened" and connect their thinking with the motivation behind the 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 for the docking of individual specifics.
Motivational clarification
In motivational clarification, it is not enough to Motive to make the initiators of a change transparent. All those involved in the change have an individual view of this event and their own specific motivation. How can those involved be persuaded to adopt the initiators' perspective so that their own behavior can be reflected from this viewpoint? Which participant has which motive in the collaboration? What is the purpose of the change? What does each individual have to do with it?
This can be done, for example, by clarifying roles and clarifying the supply and performance relationships between the roles with the involvement of the parties concerned.
Resource activation
People must be emotionally activated for learning to occur. Emotions are only activated when the five senses are specifically addressed and the future is made sensually tangible. An event design that achieves exactly this is not trivial. Storytelling, which has been increasingly promoted recently using good metaphors, achieves exactly this, for example. Even better are workshops that physically activate participants through "doing".
Logically, the question arises as to what organizational measures are necessary for the change to take place, taking into account general and individual motives. This can be anything from defining an organizational chart, training measures, structural measures, procurement of materials, to concrete agreements on delivery and performance obligations.
Linking the problem state with the resources
Once all necessary resources are known and activatable, it is important to move step by step from the old to the future organizational state with a plan that is transparent to all involved. This is how change can become real.
Conclusion
After I told Rudi Baumeister about Grawe's 5 steps, he began to ponder whether his planned "It's only logical" frontal sound event was really effective. Above all, he wanted to first consider what needed to be done to strengthen the basis of trust. I should delve deeper into the topic with him, and he wanted to reflect on his case against this model in another meeting. "I think my job can even be fun this way!" he said when we scheduled the appointment.
Grawe's five-step model of general psychotherapy aims at change work with individuals. In my opinion, it is also a really good guide for what needs to be done when confronting people in an organization with changes. Unfortunately, pure logic does not reach the hearts of employees.
If we observe the 5 steps, we ensure the trust of all involved and involve those affected in a way that evokes positive emotions.
This way, the organizational change can be more successful!
