The question of why change initiatives fail often focus in key areas.  Whether, through planning and execution or competence / commitment of programme leaders; seminal authors of change often focus on a singular approach to change.  Burns & Jackson (2011) point out that this is confusing as there are many “one best way” approaches to change and argue failure of “change initiative is not caused by poor planning or execution or a lack of competence or commitment per se; rather the underlying cause is a clash of values between the organization and the approach to and type of change it has adopted.”

The prevailing culture is often regarded as the bedrock within an organisation and Schein’s works highlight that effective organisations have aligned the organisational values and individuals so goals and values are congruent.  The impact of values and success date back to the 1940’s with Kurt Lewin and subsequently acknowledged by academic research as important drivers of successful change interventions with individuals, groups and organisations.

Values define what is important to us and shape our lives, give meaning and provide the foundation to our beliefs.  They influence our decisions, actions and behaviours.

If our values are aligned with our work, they support and provide motivation.  Change can expose a disconnect with values and cause conflict or stress.  Values can make or break transformative change!

Values are relatively stable and are shaped by our experiences and are not subject to frequent change.  Decision making is made on the foundations of our values and cause-effect beliefs which stem from available information that we each receive, interpret and act upon.

If aligned values between individuals and organisations drive ambition, then it is a plausible expectation that an individual will rise through the levels.  Leaders that have a value system higher than their team or individuals within the organisation are more likely to exhibit creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking and therefore drive continuous innovation.  Similarly, organisations that continuously innovate (e.g. Apple, Amazon, Netflix, etc.) are recognised to be market leaders and subsequently assure higher profitability.

On the other hand, if value alignment is not present, then it is likely the change initiative will fail (for example, Total Quality Management, 5S, etc.).  Given 70% of business process re-engineering programmes do fall short of their expected outcome, creating a framework for individuals, teams and organisations to maintain a dynamic awareness of values will ultimately navigate change programmes and assure success.

In a recent Deloitte readiness report for Industry 4.0, it was recognised that radical change is needed by organisations in preparation for increased automation and teams will assemble and disband quickly in the future rather being formed slowly over time.  Navigating transformational change will be key for organisations as technology paradigm changes become more frequent.

Reference:

Bernard, B. and Jackson, P. (2011), ‘Success and Failure In Organizational Change: An Exploration of the Role of Values’, Journal of Change Management, 11(2), pp. 133-162