The Monthly Change Management Agenda: Navigating Changes via” 5W+1H” Inquiries Feb. 2016

Everything changes continuously and the rate of change is accelerated.

Change is inevitable, but too often changes are made as a reaction to outer impulses, crisis, and demands. This is the bureaucracy’s way of meeting the challenges. The perspective is often rational, an automatic cultural response; defending already existing structures, all that we take for granted, without questioning the underlying premises. So in order to lead change both proactively and sustainably, how to make great inquiries - change via questioning?

Navigating Changes via” 5W+1H” Inquiries

Three Big “WHY”s in Change Management: Change is the most significant characteristics of the digital age, and it’s multifaceted. Change also becomes an important business capability, not just an ongoing project or a one-time business initiative. “Change Management” is an overarching term that encompasses extensive planning, communication, discovery, creativity, measurement, etc. But the first step first, you need to figure out what are the very reasons and what are the ultimate goals for changes? What are the big "WHY" questions you should ponder in order to manage change more seamlessly?

Three Big “WHAT”s in Change Management: Everything changes continuously and the rate of change is accelerated. Change is no longer just a one-time initiative, but an ongoing capability. Change capability is one of the strategic capabilities which underpin successful execution and move the organization from efficiency, effectiveness to agility and maturity. Besides the "Big WHYs" about the change we discussed earlier, here are three big "WHAT" about Change Management.

Three Big WHOs in Change Management: People are the center of any Change Management, and people are also the weakest link in any change effort as well. Therefore, change agents are critical, as they have been an invaluable source of knowledge, business visions, insight, and support etc. But more specifically, who are proactive change players, and why are they so critical in business transformation?

Three big “WHEN”s in Change Management: Corporate change can be a simple modification of strategy, a business process improvement or a more radical digital transformation. Either at the individual or organizational level, change has to become an ongoing capability at the dynamic digital age. Here is the further question - WHEN should you make change happen - there is the time to sow, and the time to reap - How to manage change lifecycle more effectively?

Three Big “Where”s in Change Management? Change comes in two forms; good change (improvement) or bad change (deterioration). The good change can drive business growth and collective progress; the bad change will deteriorate the business development, lead to negative perspectives or the backward direction. And the purpose of Change Management is to enable and accelerate good change, discourage and eliminate bad changes. Change has to be orchestrated at all levels. Besides exploring WHY, WHAT, WHEN, WHO questions about changes, here is the last “W” -Where shall you change?

Three Big “How”s in Change Management?  Change becomes fundamentally difficult in most organizations because it is treated as something distinct from running the business, evolving performance and increasing results over time. There are many reasons for changes, and perhaps, even more reasons for resistance to changes as well: It may be a shift in power, a need to learn new skills, to manage a different team, to adopt the new way (mindset, methodology or process, etc) to do things etc. Besides all big "W" questions about changes, here are three big “HOW”s about Change Management?  

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