In his book On Becoming a Leader, Warren Bennis cites Kurt Lewin on change (Bennis, 2003). Lewin is actually considered by many as the father of social psychology and one of the initial voices in what is now commonly referred to as Organizational Development (OD) (Greathouse, 1997). The quote cited by Bennis reads, “If you want to truly understand something, try to change it” (p. 133). This quote is particularly poignant when one considers what exactly Lewin is saying.
Change often makes people uncomfortable. It requires individuals to adjust to a new environment, a new process, a new paradigm, or even a new leader. The new change may even necessitate an individual or group to behave in a different manner than was previously the case. What is critical to understand is that in order to effectively manage change, a leader must understand what the current state is and what the desired outcomes are. More importantly, a leader must understand the degree to which the proposed changes will impact an operation or group. For example, a change in a computer system may be a logical decision. The current system may be antiquated or even unsupported by the manufacturer. From a pure business standpoint, the change to a new and different system makes absolute sense. What oftentimes is forgotten is the degree to which individuals and groups will be impacted by the change. A new system will require additional training for the employees. In addition, to make the change there will need to be a detailed analysis of all the capabilities of the current system and the degree to which a new system will impact those functions and processes. Will the end user or customer be impacted by the change? How does the employee currently interact with the system? What downtime will a system change cause for the customer? These are just a few examples of the questions that needs to be fully considered and understood prior to the change. What started as a simple logical business decision could impact individual’s careers, the number of employees necessary to complete a specific process, and even the consumer’s perception of the organization.
Consider a smaller example as well. A computer system is a large change, however even something as common as a change of a team or department leader must be considered thoroughly. For example, the loyalty of the team to the current leader, the perception of the new leader, the loss of the knowledge and experience of the leader, and the processes implemented by the leader all must be understood. A high performing team that loses a key leader, even under positive circumstances suffers a significant and sometimes irreversible loss.
Regardless of what is being changed, once a change takes effect, it often acts in a domino effect impacting many areas. To fully mitigate the risk associated with change, it is incumbent upon leaders to fully understand the current state of what is actually being changed. Even with the most detailed of analysis, unintended outcomes will surface that further expand the scope of the change. This is the reality that Lewin was communicating in his simple yet profound statement.
References
Bennis, W. (2003). On becoming a leader. New York: Basic Books
Greathouse, J (1997). Kurt lewin. Retrieved July 31, 2008 from http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/lewin.htm
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