Encyclopedia of Leadership

5.6

ALIGNING SYSTEMS: BUILDING SYSTEMS

COMPATIBILITY INTO CHANGE PLANS

Inspired by numerous sources, including John Kotter, Tom Peters, Robert Waterman, and Peter Senge.

Leaders sometimes try to push through change by improving the technical excellence of the

change itself, while ignoring the many other interacting systems that impact on the success of

the change (e.g., structure, leadership style, skills, and so on). In these cases, the change often

sputters or fails not because the change itself was faulty or misguided, but because it was not

supported by the many other interacting systems within the organization. The idea behind this

tool is simple but powerful. It stresses the importance of understanding and aligning change

initiatives with existing interacting systems; or alternatively, of redesigning these interacting

systems to support the change initiative. Only then can change initiatives add sustainable and

lasting value within organizations.

SYSTEMATIC CHANGE PRINCIPLES

• Change often fails because it was not supported by other interacting systems.


• For successful change, leaders need to identify those systems that interact with the
  change.
  − Which interacting systems will support or accelerate the change?
  − Which interacting systems will inhibit or act as barriers to your recommended
  change?
  − What can be done to reduce, eliminate, or even turn around these barriers?
  By way of example, many a task force has sought to produce an elegant career development

process for their organization. Yet these efforts have sometimes been abandoned because peo-

ple ask questions such as, “Will my compensation parallel my career development?” In this

way, change fails because interacting systems (e.g., the compensation program) were not

aligned with the proposed change.

SECTION 5 TOOLS FORLEADINGCHANGE 153

Roles &

Responsibilities

Compensation

Organizational

Strategy

Improved Career

Management

Process

Other

Subsystems:

Training &

Development

Succession

Planning

Recruitment

Process

Rewards &

Recognition