Module 5: Enacting Change – Enabling for powerful performance
Topic 5.3: A Change Process – The Dual Operating System
The renown Harvard Business School professor, John Kotter, has explored innovation and change at all levels of organisations and in many sectors (Kotter, 2014)[1]. He makes a very strong case for the need for two structures in organisations to facilitate change and innovation. One of course is the formal structure and hierarchy. This includes planning, budgeting, job definitions, staffing and organisational charts. The other, the second system, is what Kotter calls the ‘organisational network’. Start-ups are usually built around a network model. Kotter argues that mature organisations need both systems, which he calls a dual operating system.
To build this dual operating system, Kotter proposes 8 steps, which he calls Accelerators.
Figure 5.1 Kotter 8 steps
You might notice here that the actual ‘change’ component of the process is the final stage in the process!
Required
60 mins
Explore these concepts in more detail on the Kotter website.
Revisit a recent change initiative that you have witnessed or experience.
- What was the process that was used?
- How successful, in your opinion, and by the proposed change measures, was the change initiative?
- How aligned, at all, was the process aligned with, or similar to, the Kotter process?
- What would you propose that could be completed differently?
The article makes the following statement:
“The close collaboration with partner organizations is particularly important during the recruitment stage [of the project] in order to overcome the challenge of identifying and sourcing the relevant users.”
- How important is this idea to your workplace project initiative?
- How might you go about creating this collaboration, and with whom might you collaborate?
- What other ideas have you found in this reading that is potentially useful for your workplace project?
Recommended
30 mins
For a view of innovation outside the public sector, explore the website of IDEO, the US home of much of the thinking around innovation in the 21st century.
In particular start with the following case study. Look for ideas that you might be able to use to build momentum and exciting around your project.
- Kotter, J. (2014) XLR8 Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-moving World. Harvard Business Review Press. Retrieved from https://www.kotterinc.com/8-steps-process-for-leading-change/ ↵