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Organizational Culture and Leadership - Schein

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Chapt 20 Feelings As Data - Unconscious at Work

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Chapt 21 The Myth of Rationality - The Unconscious at Work

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Chpt. 10 Transforming Toxic Cultures - Peterson

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Organizational Culture - The norms of behavior and values that are accepted and expected within the organization.

To effect significant change, or even perform at acceptable levels, these three elements must be aligned.

In the model, these factors are at the top of the loop and are of over-riding importance when dealing with a change that is intended to shake-up "the way things are done around here." The arrows showing the interaction between these transformational factors and the transactional factors described below are shaded downwards to indicate that, although the upper and lower elements both impact each other, the impact is stronger in the downwards direction.

Throughput: Transactional Factors

These are the elements of an organization that are more easily changed, but rarely have the same kind of impact on organization-wide performance as the transformational ones. They are shown in light green in figure 1. They are important, but unless the three transformational factors support the change, modifications in these areas are likely to be temporary.

In fact, all twelve elements affect each other, but the arrows on the diagrams show the relationships between elements that the authors considered the strongest. Even so, it quickly becomes clear how a change in one element can have an organization-wide impact. And while change or improvement in any one of these transactional factors can affect performance, the effect will only be long-lasting if the underlying transformational elements are aligned.

For example, if you restructure departments and create cross-functional work teams without addressing the deeply held belief that functional groups operate best as distinct business units, then your restructuring may even be detrimental to performance. Likewise, if you put in place a top-notch reward and recognition system to motivate employees, but it doesn't reward people for behaviors that support the mission, then the effect may be counterproductive.

Output: Individual and Organizational Performance

The outcome of the change is the effect it has on performance (shown in gray in figure 1). This is the measure of the effectiveness of the change. It also has an impact on the external environment, which is what creates the loop. Therefore, as the output changes, so does the input and so the factors of change themselves also change, once again proving that the only constant is change!

Applying the Burke-Litwin Change Model

So the theory sounds good, but how do you use it? The model's greatest value is as a framework for understanding the current situation and the collateral impact of proposed changes.

Step 1: Where Is the Need for Change Coming From?

Change initiatives are driven by one of two things: either something isn't working now, or something won't be working as well as you want it to in the future if you don't make changes now.

Either way, the change initiatives will be focused in one of the four groups of elements in figure 1:

1. The External Environment.

2. Transformational Factors.

3. Transactional Factors.

4. Performance.

Start by deciding which group your change imperative belongs to. Then identify which of the elements in each group is key for your situation.

In general, the lower down the model your key element is, the more easily you will be able to effect the change required.

Example:

A small software development company had grown successfully over several years, and now employed around 60 people. However, in the last 9 months, staff had started leaving. Karen, one of the founders, set about finding out why this was happening.

She contacted some of the recent leavers and found that they had been unhappy with a new emphasis she and her business partner had put on developers selling work to clients. In the past, she and her partner had cut the deals. But as the company had matured, the founders had wanted to put more of their time into a new venture, and had figured that selling software required strong technical knowledge, so the developers themselves would be well placed do to this. While this was essentially true, the problem was that the developers didn't like doing this task, and they also felt they lacked sales skills.

Using the Burke-Litwin Model, Karen concluded that "Task and Skills" was the key problem area.

Step 2: Assess the Current Situation

The next step is to understand the key element in your change imperative in detail. Use the questions from the following list as a guide, and also explore the other 11 elements, spending more time on those that Figure 1 links most closely with your key element.

Example:

Karen looked at the following elements of the Burke Litwin Model which are the most closely linked to the key problem area of Task & Skills.

Step 3: Incorporate All Affected Elements Into Your Change Plan

Now that you understand "what" is happening, you need to figure out what you're going to change in the key problem element, and what therefore also needs to change in the main related elements.

This may need to be done as an iterative process: change in one element affects a second element, which affects a third, yet the change in the third element may require another alteration back in the first element again.

Example:

Karen consulted with her team of developers and, together, they agreed a new approach:

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The Burke-Litwin Change Model - Unraveling the Dynamics of Organizational Change

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Organizational Culture - The norms of behavior and values that are accepted and expected within the organization. To effect significant change, or even perform at acceptable levels, these three elements must be aligned. In the model, these factors are at the top of the loop and are of over-riding importance when dealing with a change that is intended to shake-up "the way things are done around here."

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