Key Lessons on "Change Management" from Barack Obama

Given the results of the recent U.S. presidential elections, leaders of organizations (both private and public) can draw three key lessons from the President-elect Mr Obama's election campaign about change management.

We've all heard the phase, "people are resistant to changes". The converse is true, on the contrary. People DO NOT resist changes. They resist the uncertainty that changes bring about. People know that some changes are good. But what they fear are the uncertainties.

So, the three key lessons that one can learn from Mr Obama are: clear communications about these changes, the plans behind how these changes will unfold, and how each individual are involved in making these changes happen.

But before we discuss in detailed about these three key lessons, let's examine the underlying systems and structures that must be in place. To bring about successful change management, the organization's existing systems & structures and processes & policies must be re-examined.

Henceforth, the systems & structures and processes & policies must support and/or reinforce the outcomes of these changes. For instance, if you want more cooperation amongst your staff, you will need to identify current systems & structures and processes & policies that do not support or worse, run counter to cooperation. If you want more creativity than the systems & structures and processes & policies must allow for creative efforts to exist, if not flourish.

This is only, but at one level. And this level is what most consultants or corporate management experts will recommend. We offer another level, where the key lessons are drawn from the successful campaign for presidency by Mr Obama.

The level that we've discussed above is an "external" level. Meaning, at the organizational level, these systems & structures and processes & policies can do to reinforce, support, acknowledge, and encourage the behaviors that bring about the desired outcomes of the "change". However, though external factors can succeed, it can also be implemented but staff still feel disengaged or worse, disenfranchised.

This is where the internal factors become so critical that, we believe, even if those external factors are not present, with a strong internal desire for this "change", "change" can still happen. These internal factors address the very issue of "people resist changes" directly and effectively.

First, "changes" must be communicated clearly to staff. As changes often, though not always, require a shift in mindset, it must be communicated in such a way that it creates a vivid picture of the outcomes for the staff. People need to know what will these changes bring about, what are the benefits and what might be the pitfalls.

As long as the benefits outweigh the pitfalls, as well as the current situation, people are gonna want in. Mr Obama made it clear that with him as the Commander-in-Chief, he will work to bring about the changes, that will not only benefit the people but will bring the people out of this current mess.

So, one of the best ways to communicate such changes, spell out the plans ahead, and give examples of how each individual can be involved is to use a technique that Walt Disney had employed when creating his famous Mickey Mouse cartoons. That technique has allowed the Walt Disney Company to capture the imagination of millions of people over many generations.

The technique that we are talking about is the "story-boarding" technique. The "story-board" technique allows you to build up the "story" from where we are currently to where we want to be. Masterful usage of this technique has allowed its users to build their stories to a climax, where the listeners become totally inspired, as in the case of Mr Obama. Essentially, it progressively shows how we, as an organization, can do this together.

There is a six-step process that you can follow to help you design your own "story" in communicating the "changes", which you want to bring about. Let's examine these steps in greater details in our next discussion.

*Note: Of course there are some leaders who do this at a subconscious level, meaning they do it without knowing that the principles are essentially that of the "story-board" technique. Thing is, if it is subconscious then the ability to re-create the same desirable outcomes then become opportunistic.