Encyclopedia of Leadership

5.4

LEADING CHANGE: SMALLWINS

OR BREAKTHROUGHS?

Inspired by Michael Hammer, James Champy, Robert Schaffer, and Karl Weick.

Change in organizations is a complex phenomenon; no single approach will work consistent-

ly over a wide range of change situations. Leaders need to consider the magnitude of any given

organizational change and whether it can be introduced in chunks or must be completed in

one quantum leap. Note that in some change situations you may be able to strategize an all-

or-nothing change yet implement it in manageable pieces, thereby reconciling the two

approaches contrasted here and gaining the benefits of both while avoiding the problems of

both.

SECTION 5 TOOLS FORLEADINGCHANGE 147

Other phrases used:

➠ Incremental change

➠ Continuous improvement

➠ Adaptation

➠ Chunking

➠ Simplification

✔ Start with subprojects that are likely to succeed. Build

success on success.

✔ Small changes allow the system to absorb the overall,

larger change.

✔ Small changes allow people to adapt and adjust

emotionally, enabling them to become better prepared

for additional changes.

✔ It is easier to involve people in small, specific changes.

✔ Have an overall goal and strategy, then implement

small projects and move incrementally to attain that

overall goal.

In the small wins corner

From High-Impact Consultingby Robert Schaffer:

To avoid one of what Schaffer calls the “Five Fatal Flaws” of

consulting:

“Instead of aiming for ‘one big solution’ that will require a long

cycle time and huge up-front investment, high-impact consulting

divides projects into increments, with rapid cycle times, for

quicker results.”

The small wins approach

Other phrases used:

➠ (Radical) Transformation

➠ Discontinuous change

➠ Reinvention

➠ Frame-breaking

➠ Reengineering

✔ Improvement is more than the sum of its parts. You

can’t tinker your way to breakthrough change.

✔ With a quantum leap change, no one can cling to the

past.

✔ Change is better introduced as one large change, rather

than “death by a thousand cuts.”

✔ You must look at the whole system. Most large-scale

changes fail because the recommended change wasn’t

supported by the other systems it needed to interact

with.

In the all-or-nothing corner

From Reengineering the Corporationby Hammer and

Champy:

“Reengineering, we are convinced, can’t be carried out in small

and cautious steps. It is an all-or-nothing proposition that pro-

duces dramatically impressive results. Most companies have no

choice but to muster the courage to do it. For many, reengineer-

ing is the only hope for breaking away from the ineffective, anti-

quated ways of conducting business.”

OR The breakthrough approach

Goal Goal

Time Time

Quantum Leap