Leading Organizational Change

What’s Your Why?

Creating change in an organization takes hard work, effort, and strategy. As I begin to implement my innovation plan in my organization I have to keep in mind my WHY for wanting to create this change. Being transparent and sharing my WHY with those in my organization will help drive the change that I am after. By targeting the affective domain, such as values, motivation, attitude, and feelings one can enhance and increase the effectiveness of significant change in an organization. Simon Sinek’s model of the Golden Circle with the why, how, and what circles that correlate to the human brain, claims that great leaders and organizations communicate from the inside of the Golden Circle and then work their way out beginning with the purpose, the “WHY” which communicates with the part of the brain that drives behavior (Start With Why — How Great Leaders Inspire Action | Simon Sinek | TEDxPugetSound, 2009). Focusing first on understanding and communicating the purpose, the “why” and then communicating the “how” which is the process, and then the “what” which is the result. My plan proposes implementing a blended learning model to ensure that learners experience meaningful learning. Blended learning in the classroom can enhance student learning by creating experiences that leave meaningful impressions for the rest of their lives.

Influencer Strategy – Part A&B

In order to make substantial and sustainable change in an organization, six sources of influence must be strategically utilized. In the book, Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change by Joseph Grenny and Kerry Patterson the authors identify the Six Sources of Influence that drive behavior and they are: personal motivation, personal ability, social motivation, social ability, structural motivation, and structural ability (McMillan et al., 2013).

The secret to overcoming tough challenges in organizations is to combine at least four, if not more, of the six sources of influence. Research shows that the chances for successful organizational change increase ten times more if more than four sources of influence are utilized (Grenny, 2022).

Influencing human behavior can be accomplished by utilizing the right influence tools in strategic ways. A well-developed influence strategy that will lead to rapid, measurable and sustainable behavioral change can be implemented with the identification of the desired results, targeting vital behaviors, and applying the Six Sources of Influence. I have applied the Six Sources of Influence to my Innovation Plan and have created a Matrix to show the strategies and tasks that I intend to implement in my organization.

Installing 4DX With Your Organization

In this course we were tasked to read the book, The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Chris McChesney, Jim Huling, and Sean Covey. As I reflected on the book I considered how it could help my organization prioritize and achieve desired results as I implement my innovation plan of blended learning. This book is about how to effectively execute the most important goals for your organization. The execution of a well-defined plan and strategy requires precise rules to install and apply in order to bring about sustainable change in people’s behavior. The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) are the rules that will move strategy into action in an organization. They are designed to create a winnable game and they empower leaders to execute their most important goals in an organization. The principles of execution are focus, leverage, engagement, and accountability (McChesney et al., 2022, 24). Every one of the disciplines has its own value but how they work together and how they set the stage for the next discipline is the real power of the 4DX.

Self-Differentiated Leader and Crucial Conversations

Creating innovative change in an organization can be a challenging task. To implement change effectively, leaders must self-differentiate and remain neutral in various problematic situations and be able to address the inevitable resistance to change that will occur when launching an innovative initiative. Effective leaders also must be able to connect and empower their leadership teams into holding required crucial conversations without the uncomfortable anxiety that can sometimes arise when the stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. As I near the implementation process of my innovation plan, I am certain that many opinions will be voiced by my colleagues and leadership team. I will undoubtedly encounter many obstacles, and resistance and run into numerous roadblocks due to the proposed changes. Being able to successfully navigate crucial conversations is an aspect of being a self-differentiated leader. By utilizing a combination of becoming a self-differentiated leader and using the principles addressed in the book Crucial Conversations, I intend to get the results that I am striving for and move my innovation plan on blended learning forward.

Self-Differentiated Leadership and Bringing the Organization Change Process Together

As I reflect on the multiple strategies and resources acquired in this course, I can see the power of combining all five of the strategies and tools to make an immense impact on my organization. In order to make a lasting impact, it is necessary to win over the hearts and minds of the stakeholders by starting with the WHY. Dr. John Kotter argues that the first step in any change effort is to create a sense of urgency in the people directly impacted by the change. Influencing human behavior can be accomplished by utilizing the right influence tools in strategic ways. A well-developed influence strategy that will lead to rapid, measurable, and sustainable behavioral change can be implemented with the identification of the desired results, targeting vital behaviors, and applying the Six Sources of Influence. I have applied the Six Sources of Influence to my Innovation Plan and have created a Matrix to show the strategies and tasks that I intend to implement in my organization. I will utilize a combination of both the Influencer Strategy and the 4DX as I begin to implement the blended learning model in my organization. Creating an environment that is open for change by identifying vital behaviors and using the six sources of influence strategies is necessary before identifying the wildly important goals and holding everyone accountable for their actions and behaviors in order to fully and seamlessly implement blended learning in our classrooms. Being able to successfully navigate crucial conversations is an aspect of being a self-differentiated leader. By utilizing a combination of becoming a self-differentiated leader and using the principles addressed in Crucial Conversations, I will get the results that I am striving for to move my innovation plan on blended learning forward. With commitment, perseverance, and the support of a strong leadership team, our goals and lasting change can be achieved.

Contribution to My Learning and My Learning Community

As I wrap up yet another two courses in the ADL program, I can honestly say that these courses had a huge impact on my learning journey in regards to understanding how to utilize the tools needed to be a self-differentiated leader who can address the inevitable resistance to change that will occur when launching innovative digital learning initiatives such as my innovation plan on blended learning in my organization. Click here to read my Contributions to My Learning and My Learning Community.