While we are amid transforming our work processes and organizational norms through Covid-19, we are still facing challenges that require immediate creative solutions, interventions, and maybe radical shift in how we accomplish organizational objectives.
While change management models have proven to be effective in initiating change and implementing pre planned strategies in the past, they are doomed to fail in this new normal turbulent sea of changes. In a research article, an analysis of 38 healthcare organizational change management showed that change management models were only used as guiding principles and not as descriptive step-by-step processes [1]. Another study indicated that learning and engagement in the process of change management proved more effective in adaptive systems with complex and non-linear dynamic interactive organizations. This could apply to healthcare as well as other types of organizations[2].
The adaption Learning and engagement model is perceived as having four entry points to the change process of which each consists of a specific capability or action that facilitates the change process.
Awareness of the coming change or being able to predict it through ‘Assessing the Environment’ [3]is one entry point where change agents or leaders are pre-adoptive for disruption. They must also understand how organization design elements govern and drive behavior in the organization and be able to conceive of alternative designs to elicit and reinforce new behaviors. In the design entry point, a leader or agent pulls away from the organizational core logic allowing design activities to take place in a loosely connected stakeholders collaboration. This allows for adaptivity and emergent design to take place. While testing and evaluating are in play, tailoring defines how the targeted specific high-impact intervention will look like. This uses the organizational unique resources and allows learning from diversity to take place. Finally, monitoring the impact of the intervention to assess the outcomes and understand the progress is a fourth entry point to the learning and engagement approach.
Leaders are initiators for change but also support the design and intervention team as it paves its way across the organization.
Thus, authentic, and visionary leadership must play its role constantly to allow the team to sustain the implemented change. Ethical Neocharismatic Leadership is always integral as it has a transformational mindset that strives to challenge the status quo while siding with people and sensing their needs. A whole shift in culture is required to set the stage but there is no time to do this as we are in the midst already. The only choice we have is to swim and adapt as we do so.
[1] Journal of Healthcare Leadership downloaded from https://www.dovepress.com/ by 140.244.128.7 on 16-Mar-2021
[2] C. G. Worley, S. A. Mohrman (2014), Is change management obsolete? Organizational Dynamics 43, 214—224
[3] Angawi, G., (2020). Neocharismatic leadership: A comprehensive self-coaching model. Springer- Switzerland.
