There are varying views on the role of change management in a lean transformation. On one end, some say if you are doing everything right you won’t encounter resistance and shouldn’t even need change management. On the other end, others say change management is essential in all circumstances. Personally I think both of these sides have merit in their own rights. Evaluating them raises a couple questions:
- What is “doing it right?”
- When needed, does the change management process matter?
Let’s start with the first bullet. I presume that if you are “doing it right” it means you are approaching lean in a way that is embracing the pillars of the Toyota Way – respect for people and continuous improvement. Said another way, you are creating an environment where people are respected, engaged, and supported while there is continuous change. In situations like this, change is continuously being managed.
That’s easy to say, but the real question is, how do you do it? For those “doing it right,” can you articulate what “right” is and be explicit on how to do it? Can change management models help us to understand how to respect and engage people through continuous change?
Which brings us back to the second question: Does the change management approach we take matter? In my opinion, it depends on what you are trying to achieve. Some change models seek to effectively tell and sell the change. Some change models seek to engage people in the change. What behavior is your change process modeling?
For a model for change that enables the support of a lean culture I am partial to the D x V x F > R change formula, which is the overarching model for Kathleen Dannemiller’s whole-scale change approach.
Where:
- D is dissatisfaction with the current situation
- V is vision of a positive possibility
- F is first steps in the direction of the vision
- R is resistance to change
Essentially this states that for the organization and all individuals; the product of the dissatisfaction of the current situation, vision for what is possible, and first steps towards that vision has to be greater than the resistance to change. If any one of these aspects – dissatisfaction, vision, or first steps – does not exist, you are missing a component necessary to overcome the resistance, which will inevitably always exist.
Many lean tools align with this framework. When used while engaging people in the process it can support a lean culture.
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Lean tools that engage |
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Dissatisfaction |
Value Stream Mapping – Current State Map A3 – Background, Current Condition Kata – Current Condition |
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Vision |
Value Stream Mapping – Future State Map A3 – Goals / Targets Kata – Target Condition |
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First Steps |
Implementation Plans, Action Plans Experiments using PDCA |
There is always a reason behind resistance, and it holds incredibly valuable information to help you improve. By respecting and seeking to understand resistance while engaging people when using lean tools, you will catalyze their current-situation dissatisfaction, vision, and first steps while decreasing their resistance – enabling continuous improvement through PDCA experimentation.
And to close, a couple of questions for the lean community:
- If you don’t need change management, what are you doing that makes it not necessary?
- What change management models do you use to support a lean culture?
