The Change Model!

Why Your Change Efforts Die: The Chaos You’re Not Willing to Endure

Jason works with companies in very scary situations. They say “Jason, we need your help. We’re going to do some really crazy, wonderful things. We need to change the culture, implement field operations, do some training, recover a project.” It ends up being a situation where the people have to do the work.

And here’s where it gets hard. Jason doesn’t blame the people, but we do have to train the people. There’s a little character in Madagascar named King Julien who says “I love the people. Not a very lively bunch, though.” It’s funny because it’s true. The people have to get this done.

Jason likens it to a story he heard. His wife’s uncle was watching a horse race with other people in the family. The horse they were wanting to win was losing, or the jockey was, and they’re yelling at the jockey. Finally, the uncle said “You know, the horse has something to do with it too, right?”

The jockey is on top doing his best, encouraging, spurring him on, guiding, being the leader. But at the end of the day, the horse has to run the race. The jockey is too short, too slow, too human to get them past the finish line. The horse has to run the race.

We’re talking about workers, foremen, superintendents, PMs, employees, whoever. These people have to run the race in a changed environment. The leadership, the trainers, the consultants can only do so much. But there are some very key things we can do to bring about change. And most importantly, there’s a model that shows you exactly where your change effort will die if you’re not prepared to endure the chaos.

The Change Model: Why Most Efforts Fail in the Chaos Phase

Ryan Schmidt from Petty Coach Schmidt shared a graphic with Jason that’s been on his mind lately. It’s the change model, and it explains why most construction companies start change initiatives and then abandon them three months later when things get hard.

Here’s how it works. You start with the old status quo. Everything is familiar. People know the routines. The system is broken, but at least it’s predictable. Then something happens. A catalyst. Maybe you lose a big project. Maybe safety incidents are piling up. Maybe your best superintendent quits and tells you exactly why on the way out. Something forces you to realize change is necessary.

So you make a plan. You get excited. You launch the initiative. You bring in training. You implement new systems. And then what happens? Chaos. It’s going to suck. You’re going to have people leaving. There’s going to be grumbling. You’re not going to see effectiveness. You’re going to spend a little bit of money. You’re going to say “Well, I’m not making a ton of progress.”

This is where most companies quit. They hit the chaos phase, decide the change isn’t working, and retreat to the old status quo. They tell themselves “We tried lean and it didn’t work.” They tell themselves “Our people aren’t ready for this.” They tell themselves “Maybe next year.” And they die in the chaos phase.

But here’s what happens if you stick with it. If you grind and you stay and you drive and you’re determined, if you stay with it, the organization starts to get it. They start to see what you want them to see. That’s when these concepts start to get integrated. Then they start to get good solid practice with it. And then you have a new status quo. A better one. A status quo built on flow instead of chaos, on respect instead of blame, on systems instead of heroics. The problem is you have to stick with it. You have to endure the chaos. You have to press the attack exactly when you want to give up.

When You Live or Die on the Hill

Jason was talking to a great company the other day during a training. There was an assignment and the people needed to do the assignment. Some of them hadn’t done it. And they were sharing with each other, realizing something crucial: we live or die on the hill right now.

The change isn’t going to go anywhere unless we hold our people accountable and unless we sift through the wheat and the tares. And Jason is talking about the cultural wheat and tares, because every human being is a stalk of wheat. But from a cultural standpoint we have wheat and tares in our organization. Some people belong, some people don’t.

We live or die right now based on what we do. Once it gets hard, once you’re to the point where “I want to give up, I don’t know if I should have spent this money, I don’t know what’s going on,” that’s when you have to press the attack. It’s too late to turn back. You have to press the attack because that’s where people are going to start to see. That’s when you get out of the chaos area. That’s when you get into the integration, into the solid practice, and you have a new status quo.

Here’s what most leaders don’t understand: your people aren’t wanting you to fail. Your people that are pushing you are seeing how serious you are about this so they know if they should leave or buy in. They just want to know where you stand.

At the end of the day, most of your people are waiting to see if it’s real. They don’t want to waste their time. Every human being is trying to save time. So a lot of times when they’re pushing you, they’re just testing you. They’re not even asking you to give it up. They probably in most cases don’t want you to give it up because they want the bonus. They want the money. They want the improvement. They want the stability. They want the lean.

But they’re going to push you and they’re going to test you. Part of this whole thing is that when you finally stick with it and you see the change, then they’re going to thank you. But you have to be the one that’s out there alone. Leadership is lonely.

The Loneliness of Leadership

President Gordon B. Hinckley said it perfectly: “Your position, the responsibility on your shoulders came as a result of the position of leadership which was imposed upon you. And when that declaration was made concerning your responsibility, you were immediately put into a position of loneliness. The loneliness of leadership from which we cannot shrink nor run away and which we must face up to with boldness and courage and ability. Our history is one of being driven, of being winnowed and peeled, of being persecuted and hounded. And we must walk fearlessly even though you walk in loneliness. And you know in your hearts that peace will come of the squaring one’s life with principle.”

You have to stick with it. You absolutely have to stick with it. When everyone is grumbling, when people are leaving, when you’re spending money and not seeing immediate results, when your board is asking why the numbers aren’t better yet, when your superintendents are complaining that the new way takes more time, that’s when you hold the line.

Because what comes after the chaos is transformation. What comes after transformation is integration. What comes after integration is solid practice. What comes after solid practice is a new status quo that’s actually better than the old one.

The Steps to Organizational Change That Actually Sticks

Here are the steps you need to take if you want change that lasts instead of change that dies in the chaos phase:

• Determine the goal by defining exactly what you’re trying to accomplish and why it matters for workers, leaders, and the company.
• Assess the situation by gathering the cold, hard, brutal facts about where you actually are right now, not where you wish you were.
• Identify who is going to take this journey with you and who are your influencers and leaders, because you can’t do this alone.
• Draft a plan that outlines the specific steps, timeline, resources, and milestones for the change initiative.
• Direct the rider, motivate the elephant, and shape the path by educating people’s minds, motivating their hearts, and making it easy for them to execute.

That last point comes from the book Switch. You have to work on three levels simultaneously. You have to educate minds so people understand why the change matters and how it works. You have to motivate hearts so people actually want to do it instead of just complying. And you have to shape the path so the new way is easier than the old way.

Most change efforts focus only on educating minds. They do training and expect behavior to change. But knowledge doesn’t change behavior. Motivation changes behavior. And making the new way easier than the old way sustains behavior.

Cultural Creation Principles That Make Change Stick

In cultural creation, there are principles you have to keep in mind if you want the change to integrate instead of dying in chaos:

• Spread a mindset by engaging everyone in all of their senses so they see it, hear it, feel it, and experience it, not just read about it in an email.
• Let people win with short term milestones so they experience success early instead of waiting months to see if it’s working.
• Add new things to the culture but also subtract old things so you don’t overwhelm people with too many changes at once.
• Don’t be afraid to go slowly because lasting change takes time and rushing creates resistance instead of buy in.
• Allow people time to decide if they’re in or out by setting minimum standards and standards of excellence they can grab hold of.
• Leave artifacts like documents, posters, checklists, and tools that people can anchor back to when they forget why the change matters.

Sometimes those artifacts are a 20 mile march document or a thematic goal or a clarity document or a standards doc or an operations manual or core values or your secret sauce or your guiding documents. Whatever it is that explains the change so it can constantly be assessed and the gap between where we are and where we’re going can be measured.

The current condition is we don’t let change stick. We don’t let it. We’re like “Oh, old status quo, catalyst, change, I want results tomorrow.” We don’t go through the old status quo, catalyst, chaos and nightmare, then the transformation of people’s vision, integration, concrete practice, and then a new status quo, let alone do that again and again and again to get better as an organization. The future belongs to those who are willing to take the time, spend the money, and make the hard decisions. Be consistent and drive forward because change is not easy and you will never make it easy.

You Can’t Have Greatness Without the Hardness

In teams, there’s the forming, storming, norming, and performing phases. There’s the five behaviors of a cohesive team: building trust, having conflict, setting goals, holding each other accountable, and performing. In change efforts, there’s always going to be the part where the culture, the existing culture, pushes back.

You can’t have greatness without the hardness. You’ll never have a great team without the storming phase. You’ll never have a great team dynamic without the conflict phase. You’ll never have a great organization without the cultural pushback.

So go through the old status quo, the catalyst, the chaos, the transformation of vision, the integration, the practice, and get to your new vistas of success. Take these marches forward steadily. Be consistent and drive forward.

When you finally stick with it and you see the change, your people are going to thank you. But you have to be the one that’s out there alone first. You have to endure the loneliness of leadership. You have to press the attack when everyone else wants to retreat. You have to hold the line in the chaos phase when every instinct tells you to quit.

Because that’s where change dies or lives. Not in the planning phase. Not in the catalyst phase. In the chaos phase. When it gets hard. When people are leaving. When you’re spending money. When you don’t see results yet. That’s when leaders either create lasting change or retreat to the old status quo or tell themselves “We tried and it didn’t work.”

The horse has to run the race. But the jockey has to stay on through the chaos. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

FAQ

Q: How long does the chaos phase typically last in a change initiative?

It varies, but expect the chaos phase to last several months. You’ll spend money, people will leave, you won’t see immediate effectiveness, and there will be grumbling. This is normal. Most companies quit here because they expect results in 30 to 60 days. Real change takes longer. The transformation starts when the organization begins to see what you want them to see. That’s when concepts get integrated, people get solid practice, and you reach a new status quo. If you quit in the chaos phase, you never get there.

Q: How do I know if people are resisting change or just testing my commitment?

Most people aren’t wanting you to fail. They’re testing how serious you are so they know if they should leave or buy in. They just want to know where you stand. Many times when people push back, they’re not asking you to give it up. They probably don’t want you to give it up because they want the bonus, the money, the improvement, the stability, the lean. But they’re going to push you and test you. When you finally stick with it and see the change, they’re going to thank you. The key is holding the line when it gets hard.

Q: What does it mean to “live or die on the hill” during change?

It means the change isn’t going anywhere unless you hold people accountable and sift through the cultural wheat and tares. Some people belong in the new culture, some don’t. Once it gets hard and you’re at the point where you want to give up, that’s when you have to press the attack. It’s too late to turn back. You live or die based on what you do in that moment. That’s when people start to see you’re serious. That’s when you get out of chaos and into integration, practice, and a new status quo.

Q: What are the biggest mistakes leaders make in change initiatives?

The biggest mistake is quitting in the chaos phase. Leaders expect results tomorrow. They want old status quo, catalyst, change, immediate results. They don’t go through the full cycle: old status quo, catalyst, chaos and nightmare, transformation of vision, integration, concrete practice, then new status quo. The second mistake is focusing only on educating minds through training. You also have to motivate hearts and shape the path so the new way is easier than the old way. The third mistake is overwhelming people with too many changes at once instead of adding new things and subtracting old things gradually.

Q: How do I sustain change once we get through the chaos phase?

Leave artifacts that people can anchor back to. Documents, posters, checklists, tools that explain the change so it can constantly be assessed. Let people win with short term milestones so they experience success. Don’t be afraid to go slowly. Allow people time to decide if they’re in or out by setting clear standards. And most importantly, keep going through the cycle again and again. You don’t reach one new status quo and stop. You use that as the foundation for the next change, the next improvement, the next march forward. Consistent improvement over time creates lasting transformation.

On we go.