8 Six Batteries of Change – Unleashing Organisational Energy
Six Batteries of Change – Unleashing Organisational Energy
The Batteries of Change model can be useful ‘quick check’ at the beginning of a project, and a much more intense investigation at later stages of your work.
For more details of the Six Batteries of Change, here is the PressBooks link.
https://qut.pressbooks.pub/projectsuccess/chapter/46/
The Batteries of Change model was developed at the Vlereick Business School in Belgium along with the Royal Military Academy of Belgium. We chose this model as the framework for this unit partly because it was developed by a collaboration between a business school within a university and with a unit of a military organisation.
The principles of the Batteries of Change are focused on four elements of an organisation’s reality:
- its formal element which here we call the rational/formal element;
- its operational element; followed by
- its strategic intent; and finally
- its emotional/informal.
These four elements are set out in a framework that has six areas that are the underpinnings of ways to create excellence and success.
Here is a version of the whole framework which may be useful to you in your work and your project. You may wish to explore this and apply it throughout the unit.
Adapted from De Prins, P., Letens, G., & Verweire, K. (2017). Six batteries of change. Lannoo Publishers; Page 21.
You would have already been wondering about the use of the batteries concept. And yes you are most probably correct in your assumptions that this is very much about energy and the battery metaphor is about the energy around change and the way that energy is used towards achieving change and powerful outcomes.
The metaphor is about managing and directing the organisational energy. It takes energy to get things done. Every organisation has energy and focus. The Batteries of Change model helps to identify where the energy is and where it is working well. These pockets of energy can be used to build other parts of the organisation. If a culture is energised it is very useful to help make changes and drive other parts of the organisation that need to evolve.
Joie de Bradley WIGGINS (SKY) Vainqueur du tour de France 2012 – © William Morice / MaxPPP (CCA-2.0)
The Batteries of Change approach was used by the Sky Racing team that propelled Bradley Wiggins to his win at the Tour de France in 2012. Now competitive cycling may not be your thing but we are sure you can imagine the complexities of the individual, team and organisation operations that are necessary to help an individual ride a bicycle for 21 stages for more than 3,400 kilometres through France against the world’s best riders and beat them all!
These are the principles of the approach. It looks for improvements in every part of a system and tries for as many wins as possible. The effect of these wins, small and large, leads over time to significant gains. Along the way emotional and people-related challenges typically arise especially when change is involved. Along with these improvement gains the focus is on building and enhancing a powerful culture and connection in teams and between the people in those teams.
The academics and serving military personnel who built the model realised that much of the linear thinking that was a significant part of military training was no longer as useful as it had been. They also realised that there were significant capabilities throughout the military that could and should be leveraged. They also were aware that the world has become and continues to become more complex and ambiguous.
This level of complexity requires organisations to be ambidextrous1: able to refine what they do on a daily basis and also learn and do new and very different things.
Key Takeaways for Later
- Later on, I will help you to explore the concept of ambidexterity and organisational congruence, which helps to inform the researcher and change agent of the overall strategic intent and strategic intention, and the necessary alignment or ‘congruence’ to achieve success, and make the link with the 6 Batteries.
- The overall theoretical foundations of the Batteries of Change are built on three components of human capabilities. The three components make up the attitude formation and change model.
- Together, a focus on both organisational congruence and attitude formation will help to drive change. This combination may be useful for you in your project.
One of the most significant innovations in the framework was the recognition of the importance of the emotional side of organisations and the people in them. This is especially important when it comes to change. Change is very much about influencing and convincing people.
The Batteries of Change framework is based on the ability to recognise this powerful human motivation mechanism and put it to good use to create great organisational outcomes.
Activity
OK, enough of this for now! We want you to think about a highly functioning organisation or situation and start pondering why it is successful at what it does. I want you to think about the components of the Batteries and also the metaphor of the battery giving energy to the various parts of the organisation.
Tip
If you are lost here is an option:
If you have an IKEA near you, go for a wander. Look around and just think about all the pieces and how they come together in the store you are in and in the hundreds that are all over the world all operating in roughly the same way selling pretty much the same products and providing roughly the same services.
Discussion
What did you identify as key elements in the context you explored?
What could you take and apply in your workplace?
Might this be a possibility for your project?
Here is part of a more complete audit.
Six Batteries of Change Core elements to explore to share
Here is the foundation of a later activity. If you wish, you can take a look and apply this as a diagnostic in your workplace and project. The scoring details is useful now.
The Six Batteries of Change framework in more detail
The Six Batteries of Change framework was developed by Professor Peter De Prins and colleagues from the Vlerick Business School in Belgium.1 This evidence-based model suggests that organisational energy is required across a range of formal and informal areas within an organisation for ongoing high performance. The model also says that a balance of strategic and operational considerations must be front of mind in achieving success and driving transformation and change.
These batteries of change are relevant to all kinds of organisations. The metaphor of energy coming from a range of ‘batteries’ provides a straight forward yet robust frame for diagnosis of your current organisational landscape and a way of targeting key initiatives to move the organisation forward towards positive transformation.
The framework considers that the more energy available to an organisation across key dimensions, the better positioned the organisation is to achieve transformation and success.
How do you think this metaphor of energy for change might work in the context of your team or organisation?
To help you answer this question, here is a range of diagnostic questions in relation to the Six Batteries of Change for you to explore.
Six Batteries of Change: Source: Adapted from De Prins, P., Letens, G., & Verweire, K. (2017). Six batteries of change. Lannoo Publishers; Page 21.
As you make your way through these questions keep the Six Batteries of Change diagram in mind. It will help you to see the connections between the various pieces.
This change model and the batteries concept is important to you in this unit as it will help you with your @work activities. This is because your @work 2 activity asks you to identify a workplace challenge that you want to explore. Along the way in this unit we will refer back to the Batteries of Change and suggest to you how the metaphor is useful to you in your work and thinking.
The Batteries are clustered into ‘Rational/Formal’, the top row of the diagram and ‘Emotional/Informal’, the bottom row of the diagram. You will also notice that the left hand end of the diagram is about the strategic components of the organisation and the right hand end is nore about the operational end of the organisation. Because of this arrangement of the diagram you can pay more attention to the relevance to your role and your situation.
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Let’s have a look at each of the Batteries in turn.
Please add in each of the diagnostic pictures for each battery – or the ‘from -to slides.
Firstly, the RATIONAL/FORMAL Batteries
These Batteries are about how the organisation goes about getting things done.
The CLEAR STRATEGIC DIRECTION Battery
Having a clear sense of purpose and a well-developed strategy is critical in making sure that everyone is working towards the same goals. This is particularly important when we want to make change ‘stick’. The desired change or changes need to align to the organisation’s purpose and strategy, and the context of your project.
The POWERFUL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Battery
This battery is where the connections between a great strategy and great execution happen. Considering the range of programs and projects that you may want to deliver, how well do structures and systems help to deliver across the organisation?
The ACTION PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION Battery
It will be impossible to achieve effective change without good reliable processes, strong problem solving and excellent change management. This is where strategy is translated into clear benefits for your project or your context that will improve its overall organisational capability.
Next the EMOTIONAL / INFORMAL BATERRIES
These Batteries are about the nature of organisation and its ways of working.
The AMBITIOUS TOP TEAM Battery
The most important source of energy across any organisation is its leadership team. Without the energy of leaders at all levels, change will be difficult to achieve. Leaders need to set ambitious goals and aspirations. They need to speak in a way that demonstrates their solidarity as a group.
The HEALTHY CULTURE Battery
A healthy culture is critical for positive change, no matter how large or small the new ideas are that you wish to implement. For an organisation to achieve traction in achieving positive change and innovation the culture must be open, collaborative and receptive to new ideas. People must see the its values in action at all levels.
The STRONG CONNECTION WITH EMPLOYEES Battery
Embedding change requires people to commit. What are the ways in which you need to engage deliberately with people from across your context to ensure they feel connected and engaged?
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Now that you have read about the Batteries of Change we want you to do an audit of how you believe things are around you. You can consider the organisation as a whole, or you might want to think of your more immediate environment such as your department or in the field.
As you do the audit keep in mind that you aren’t critiquing your organisation or your immediate environment. You are thinking about ‘how you find things around you’.
Activity:
Diagnosing your context in terms of Energy for Change. [insert]
In the table above you will find the key elements of each of the Batteries of Change. Read these carefully and think about the overall patterns that you can see in the table. Make a mental note of what you think things are like in each of the Battery areas.
You have only just started working on the Batteries of Change. However, you have probably already started to develop some ideas around the things that will support you when you come to developing and implementing a change initiative in your team or other places.