IN ANY ORGANIZATION, managing change can be challenging. There is an embedded grapevine and a power structure not reflected in the organizational chart that resists change (except for the furniture settings). A new management, whether a CEO recently appointed from the outside or an acquisition or merger, immediately targets the current “corporate culture,” and how to change it with new values, rating system, and routines (no more coffee breaks).
The status quo is portrayed as a work in progress, like the “before” poster of a cosmetic clinic, featuring a woman who is fat, full of warts, bulging eye bags, and badly in need of a makeover. (This approach in an ad already got a drubbing deploring such a portrayal as body shaming.)
Change is the “new beginning” for an “empowered organization.” This mantra is usually followed by early retirement programs and the introduction of more new faces. Yes, the new ones come with heftier compensation packages and better cars. Expect too a flurry of outside consultants who will brand the exercise with some smart title — Project Bonsai. (Small is beautiful.)
If changing an organization or business can be challenging, how much more something bigger… like a country?
The “before” picture here is not lacking in warts. The usual suspects of unsolved killings, corruption, dynastic politics, economic difficulties of inflation, high level of debt, and leakages in the budgeting process. The portrait can be so dreadful that a transformation from ugly duckling to princess, or even normal washerwoman, can be overwhelming — not even in our grandchildren’s lifetime.
Does progress always mean upending the status quo? What about the private sector’s initiatives in infrastructure, online banking, and fast-food innovations? The present economic status (Before) is not just about the public sector, although this can be a disruptive force against private initiatives.
Change brings disruption. It seems that every new leader wants his own program, discarding all the projects (good or bad) of his predecessor. This is true of both public and private service. A new CEO will have his own slogan, management team, and a cheer rally. Can a new logo be far behind?
Seldom does a new leader praise the fine work of his predecessor and how this should be continued and even enhanced. Always, the new order discards the familiar past to embrace the uncertain future. The old management is characterized as antediluvian and no longer relevant.
It’s best to take a non-political example in managing change. In the banking sector, the advance of online banking has been phenomenal. Of course, the 30-month pandemic drove bank customers to try online payments of bills, money transfers, and withdrawals. Even the upgrading of the apps (your current one will expire at the end of this month) and the routine changing of passwords (even offering facial recognition) have been even reluctantly adopted.
Changes in customer behavior are often resisted, with the present practice embraced as a comfort zone for its familiarity. A bank president wisely cautioned the service provider to “allow the customers to catch up with change.” This lesson has been learned even by road toll operators that still provide a cash lane for those who have not fully converted to the RFID system.
All organizations whether countries, empires, fraternities, universities, and religions are guided by enduring values and the traditions that define them, including the rituals that bind them together. (Hold the candle in your left hand.) Change, each time a new management comes in, can involve not just instability, but also throwing out the good things with the bad.
The true radical (from the Latin word radix for root) needs to go back to the roots of history and tradition before understanding what needs to be done. Change should not uproot but redirect how the tree should grow.
The frustration of those who view the country as hopeless leads them to give up changing the country and just change countries instead. Even these migrants who’ve given up on the status quo maintain their cultural ties with the homeland with their food, kinship system, and Christmas rites.
Still, change should begin with the individual. Even simple accomplishments in our system, like falling in line for the taxi or calling for the ride sharing app need to be embraced, and celebrated… as a transformation of the system.
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda