Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Change Management!
by Niké Basurto
How is change management like the Wizard of Oz you might ask? Tornadoes, disaster, good and wicked witches all come to mind. Other themes from the movie that apply to change management are mutual support and buy-in.
Very much like Dorothy needing all of the friends she meets to help her as she navigates Oz, so do all employees need to be involved in organizational change management. Although it seems unlikely that a teenage farm girl from Kansas could be senior management, she is in a way, facilitating and managing change in the ways that her friends feel and behave. Ultimately these changes help Dorothy to facilitate positive change in her friends and in the kingdom of Oz. She sees their potential, fosters their growth, seeks their guidance and treats their diversity as assets.
Like the transformations in The Wizard of Oz, organizations need visionary leadership to show management and front line workers the benefits and necessity for change. It is equally important to have management and other employees at the table to give input and share experiences so that the change management plan can be comprehensive in nature and scope. This process also facilitates employee investment in and committment to the change process. Being a valued member of an organization can have far reaching positive implications for an organization prior to, during and following an organizational change.
So I say let’s follow Dorothy’s model of change management for organizational success. Three cheers for ruby slippers and change management!
What do you think?
Am I on point or off base?
What are your experiences?
What are some innovative ways your organization has implemented change? Or what are some innovative ways you wish your organization would implement change?
What are some ways to deal with a Wicked Witch of the West (resistant to change, hierarchical) during a change management process?
Links
Change Management Tutorial Series, http://bit.ly/1NrnQuN
Essential Tools Series, http://bit.ly/1Z72mdU
Hiatt, J. and Creasy, T. The definition and history of change management Prosic, http://bit.ly/1J5VbJU
Vogel, J., Wizard of Oz Summary http://imdb.to/1jXviVS
Wikipedia, Frederick Winslow Taylor, http://bit.ly/1O455Df