In an ideal setting, a change agent will attempt organisation change at a time when there are already 3 main leadership types in place. There will be a waterwalker or visionary leader at the head of the company. There will be bridgebuilders in place to translate the vision into something that can be executed. And of course, the truck drivers, who will take care of the tangible details. This ideal situation is rare in the real business world though.
In most organisation change situations, the change agent will find the leadership situation is out of balance. Either there will be a missing link in one of the leadership types, or there will be too much of one leadership type, or even both. This situation is common in industries that are relatively stable. This type of situation undermines the role of a visionary leadership. There is no far shore to reach for because the industry itself is not undergoing dynamic changes. When there’s no waterwalker to provide the vision, the bridgebuilder’s function becomes no longer needed too. The truck driver mentality of leadership predominates because only incremental changes are necessary to remain competitive.
However, no company will remain stable forever. World events and the changes in the corporate marketplace can always catch up with stable companies and pressure them towards organisation change. This situation becomes a special challenge to the change agent. Without the waterwalkers and bridgebuilders, it’s up to them to come up with ways to make changes that is acceptable to leadership that is not necessarily comfortable with big, quick changes.
The use of innovative changes will be key in fostering readiness for innovative change in this situation. The trick here is to present the project in small steps, and that’s where the function of the change agent lies in organisation change. Each step should then be both needed and adamant. This is for the purpose of setting up the company and preparing leadership for an inevitable change that comes from smaller evolutionary changes.
For more information, please see our website: Organisation Change
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