Shaking Up Change: From One-Directional to Interconnected Transformation
I recently conversed with a fellow coach that sparked this share. After that conversation, I reflected on when I first started supporting teams in the change and transformation space….
So it’s 2016, the UK has just decided to leave the EU(Oh Man!), Donald Trump wins the presidency (Speechless), and I am there supporting companies and teams through change and transformation with one big belief:
We can achieve lasting, meaningful, and powerful transformation/change from the Bottom-Up throughout an organisation!
This belief was exciting and gave me the focus and energy to get things done. I would be working with teams to create new ways in which they could work to deliver success and enable the people in the team to grow. We would map out the problems and solutions and prepare ourselves to help the rest of the organisation to change in line with our thinking.
Now let’s Flash-Foward to the present day, it's 2022, the world has gone through a global pandemic, the nature of how and where people work has changed forever and I have gained years of experience( and scars! )since my original belief.
However even now years later I see companies, teams, and people still focusing on my original belief “Change/Transformation can be achieved from one direction” and no I don’t mean the no-so-great boy band, although “One Way, Or Another” might fit the theme nicely here!
So as I reflect back on my original belief I now understand that it was both Powerful and Fragile, let me explain….
The Power
The power for me is that by genuinely believing in the people and their positive intent to grow and change I can remove all biases and connect them to build a solid relationship and partnership for change. I know that the possibilities are endless if I can ask the right questions and cultivate the right environment. It helps me see the value and opportunity in what people are doing and helps them also appreciate the great things they are doing to create that important energy and motivation for change.
The Fragility
This becomes fragile when it’s only bottom-up (Or in any one direction), there is no Leadership involvement, or the Leaders are not positively impacting the change/transformation. In fact, it's Fragile because by focusing on just one direction of change you are limiting the perspective and it then becomes relatively meaningless for those who have not been actively involved in shaping it. Ask yourself..
If I were to come up to you and give you a goal I had created on my own from my point of view, how likely are you to care about it, go after it, focus on it, achieve it, etc?
The goal and the intent may be amazing and you may even agree with them, however as this change ultimately relies on people. Without the key drivers that will motivate the people, the change is very fragile indeed.
Telling people what and how to change will see some momentary movement, helping them define and own change for themselves; the possibilities are endless!
So What!
I have talked a lot here about ‘One-Directional Change’ and how fragile this is, but what should you do instead of this if you want to build meaningful, scalable, and sustainable change?
I offer 2 alternatives here, I won't go into all the nitty gritty here but if you want me to just should:
- Bottom-Up and Top-Down (Not Recommended):
You have probably already heard this before (I know I have) and it can mean different things to different organisations. More often than not I have seen it mean that Leaders and Execs have something they would like to see happen, the teams on the ground have stuff they would like to see happen and then they balance and compromise on what will be the focus. This can be a good stepping stone from one-directional change as it does help acknowledge other voices in the system and try to build a common path forward.
** Be Aware: As these two forces of people often spend little time with each other, having the message of what they want being translated and re-translated through the various organisational layers the real meaning behind the change originally described can be lost. Also as they can be seen as 2 separate forces for change I have seen the Top-Down force become overly weighted as this approach doesn't promote equal voice and accountability - Interconnected:
You may or may not have heard this term before so let me explain. What this means is that the change is formed and achieved through strong relationships, collaboration and a shared purpose created equally across those impacted by the change. There are no multiple forces for change as the change is owned singularly by the group of people it will impact who all have equal voice and accountability. All of the parts thinking and participating as one collective and interconnected intelligence.
**Be Aware: This is not easy to achieve and you will face many challenges to do with hierarchy, ego, availability of people, etc. to enable this to become possible. But if you want meaningful and lasting change, this is the way to go!
Now What!
If you are currently leading, supporting, or a part of a change or transformation then I take the time to reflect on these questions:
1, What approach to the change is being taken? e.g. One-Directional, Top-Down Bottom-Up or Interconnected
2, What outcomes would you like to see from the change/transformation?
3, If you could change one thing about the change what would it be?
4, How might a different approach help/support the change?
I hope you have enjoyed this article I would love to hear other viewpoints to expand my own learning so please feel free to share or contact me 🙏
