The New Book “Change Insight” Introduction Chapter 4: Change Principles

Change is a volatile subject, just like change itself. Everything changes continuously by following the laws of evolution, and the rate of change is accelerated. The inevitable range, breadth, and pace of uncontrollable factors acting on any organizations mean constant fine tuning is essential. What are the psychologies behind the change? What would be a good way to empower change capabilities? And what are the set of principles to manage change effortlessly, fearlessly, and seamlessly, not as a one-time project, but as an ongoing capability?
Change Management principles are general rules and guidelines: It intends to be enduring, that inform and support the way in which an organization sets about managing change effectively. The style of the principle should be short and recognizable. Its definition describes what the principle means in the language understood by stakeholders. The motivation describes “why” the principle is important to achieving the change strategy and goals. The implications describe “how” the principles changes behaviors. Change is the new norm and happens the whole time thereby delivering faster and increasing market share. Change can not be just another thing that needs to be accomplished, it has to be woven into communication, process and action of the organization via a set of well-defined change management principles.
Seed changes at the mindset level: To bring in a change, there needs to be a paradigm shift - a mind shift. The mind doesn’t like getting ignored, it keeps on driving even without one’s awareness. Everything flows from the people’s mindsets which are shaped by the education they receive, the historical event they experienced, the media, the books or the other minds they follow. The different mind takes a different approach to solving problems or making changes. So one of the important principles for Change Management is: First, change the mindset, then other hardware change will follow. In many circumstances, organizational or social circumstances are only amended by rules, policies or process, they sound practical, perhaps that’s the only way most of the managers have learned to handle problems. The mind has always been ignored. However, change in rules or systems or processes will only become sustainable if someone out there changes his or her mindset. The collective consciousness plays a role in influencing the mind to make change sustainable.
Applying Simplicity Principle in Change Management: Change is simply a shift from the “Old Way, Chaos,” to the “New Way” to do things.  People often do not look for a simple way, rather they will rely on some popular models developed by a change guru. Having a model is great, but without the buy-in from the individuals that are impacted, change won’t happen. All too often, people make things overly-complicated. There is a relationship between simplicity and clarity. With simplicity, what we are adding is clarity and purpose. Simplicity has a multitude of perspectives. Applying simplicity principle means to truly understand the essence of change - to simplify and figure out the better way of doing things.
Change Management has a very wide scope and is a relatively new area of expertise. It needs to focus on coordination and facilitation, follow the right set of principles and take the best or next practices. The speed of change is increasing, keep in mind, change is never for its own sake, alway keep the end in mind, to improve business effectiveness and efficiency, to improve employee and customer satisfaction and to catalyze business growth and innovation. Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu