It's Kotter Time

I’m finally getting around to reading the book Leading Change by John P. Kotter. A former colleague of mine gave it to me two years ago at a time when I had pneumonia and a million grant proposal and report deadlines that weren’t waiting patiently for me to get well. Since then, I’ve had a job change and a bit more professional experience in quality improvement and change efforts. I also learned that I’m turned on by strategic planning and process improvement more than grant writing and fundraising. Good to know.

Still, my better defined professional interests don’t constitute a walk in the park. It is still difficult to navigate organizational leadership and collaborate with a team of colleagues to create intentional, intelligent, meaningful change. I don’t think it matters how smart or effective you are: change is hard. So, now that I’m resting on the couch recuperating from another 6-week upper respiratory infection, I’m going back to Kotter and reacquainting myself with other quality improvement methods like Lean, Six-Sigma, PDSA cycles, etc. And, perhaps, someday I might get around to Baldrige, but for now I’ve got plenty to digest.

I think I can safely say, without jeopardizing my career too much, that process improvement or change efforts too easily fail or fade away. I’ve seen it every organization where I’ve worked. I used to think that this was only true for under-resourced non-profit settings, but I’ve felt similar frustrations at companies with more resources and better paid professionals, too. The biggest difference is that lower-resource settings draft far fewer meeting minutes documenting their descent down the rabbit hole, where the need for reduced costs, improved quality, more efficiency or a new strategic direction is lost in some alternate reality.

The reason I’ve plucked Kotter from my bookshelf today is because I want to grow from my experience rather than become stunted by frustration or pessimism. From Kotter, I’m reading up on the Eight-Stage Process of Creating Major Change, which includes

1) Establishing a sense of urgency,
2) Creating the guiding coalition,
3) Developing a vision and strategy,
4) Communicating the change vision,
5) Empowering broad-based action,
6) Generating short-term wins,
7) Consolidating gains and producing more change, and
8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture.

While I could argue that this process doesn’t apply to me because I’m not in a senior leadership position (or any leadership position for that matter), it would be far wiser for me to cultivate these processes and reflect on the stages I take for granted in my current work. Perhaps this is because I want to be a leader someday; not just any leader, but a damn fine leader who helps staff and colleagues feel valued and that their 40+ hours each week are making a positive difference in people’s lives. I also know, being the analytical person that I am, that the “softer” side of change is more challenging for me, and I better get competent at the personal, political and cultural forces effecting change rather than relying on my analytical, planning and problem-solving strengths.

Kotter also points out the distinction between management and leadership. Successful change, he asserts, requires 20% management and 80% leadership. Management involves planning & budgeting, organizing & staffing and controlling & problem solving; in effect, it focuses on predictability, order and short-term results. Leadership, on the other hand, requires establishing direction, aligning people and motivating & inspiring people. Leadership produces change, which can be unpredictable, messy and long-term.

Kotter argues that many organizations are over-managed and under-led. As a project manager, I think he might be on to something. For the past six years, my job has been to manage change, which has often translated into minimizing change while meeting regulatory requirements tied to local and national healthcare reform. Many gains, whether real or anticipated, have dissipated after a project ends...or dies.

As a staff member looking for direction and motivation from above, I’ve also witnessed the lack of leadership - that is, vision, alignment and inspiration - on several quality improvement projects that I’ve managed. I remember one scenario when I was looking for motivation during a particularly chaotic time and asked my manager to translate leadership’s strategy for a major change initiative into my daily work. My manager was unable to articulate their vision or strategy, even though the organization’s ability to survive financially was dependent on the change initiative being successful. During the next year, my team’s time was poorly managed and our efforts were stifled by poor planning, inertia, conflict and bureaucracy. Many of my highly competent teammates grew disillusioned and launched job searches for positions outside of our organization. We lost talent - the very talent that could take the organization to the next level, beyond survival to success.

What if professionals in most organizations are better at managing and minimizing change than leading it? Personally, I am learning how to be a better project manager each and every day, but I’d like to find a mentor who can help me think about how to lead change five or ten years down the road. Kotter suggests a little experiment that my colleagues at other organizations and I may find interesting. He suggests searching our organization’s documents over the past year for two phrases: managing change and leading change. Of course, this is far easier to do now than it was in 1996 when his book was first published due to the use of search terms.

So, for now, perhaps I’ll start with Kotter’s experiment, continue reading up on quality & process improvement methods, and keep my eyes open for a mentor who leads change efforts. I’ll keep learning from my own mistakes and I’ll keep my chin up. Because no matter how difficult managing or leading change may be, it can also be an exhilarating ride on the leading edge of an industry when it’s done well. And that’s where I’d like to be.