Keep the Change

The Popcorn Story

After a long day at work, I decided to go home and relax with a good movie. I really enjoy watching movies at home from my couch, and at his time of year there’s something special about tucking in under a warm blanket to enjoy a good movie in the bosom of the family.
To complete the experience I need… Popcorn.

Luckily, I had some microwave popcorn in my kitchen cupboard that I wanted to pop. I read the instructions carefully, placed the bag in the microwave and started to time the process.
As the microwave started buzzing I could hear the first corns popping *pop!*, *pop!*, *pop-pop!* More popping followed and it escalated into a burst of pops that eventually rang out with a few corn popping randomly as the time ran out. I took the steaming hot popcorn out and went back to start the movie.

As always the popcorn were eaten before the movie really got started, and at the bottom of the bowl I found quite a few unpopped corn. So I started to minutely lick and suck the salt of each unpopped corn.  But as I was licking the stupid corn, the fact that they didn’t pop started to bug me. Why didn’t they pop when I did exactly what it said in the instructions?
Determined that this corn would not get the best of me, I decided to give the unpopped corn another go in the microwave. Nothing happened. I turned up the heat and smoke started to come out of the microwave. They wouldn’t pop and the smoke detector went off.

Thinking it must have had something to do with the specific bag of corn; I tried it again with several bags all with the same result: About 10% popped fast and easily, 80% popped in a bursting curve after a while, and the last 10% just wouldn’t pop.
By now, the rest of the family had finished the movie, and I made peace with the fact that at the bottom of every bowl of popcorn, you’ll find corn that just won’t pop. C’est la vie.

.....

In my work as a change agent, this story has become a consistent metaphor for designing and implementing change.

Studies show that the awareness, acceptance and implementation of most change processes actually progress much like the microwave popcorn in the story. In every case you will find people who understand and adapt to the change easily and readily, people who are neutral but can be won over and finally, the people who will fight and resist the changes as much as possible. I call them green, yellow and red popcorns.

The trick is to appreciate the green corn that ”popped” early in the process and put our focus on the big majority of people starting to accept the change. Doing this, we can work with the green “popcorn” to reach critical mass and anchor the change we want to see. Sooner or later the few red corn will either give in or give up.

What makes people pop?

The truth is that you can’t trick smart people to change.
- But you can earn your right to make the transition together with them.

To help yellow corn turn green, you need to help them figure out why the change is needed, what the future will look like, what the plan is and how the he or she will be affected and involved.

By focusing on establishing awareness we help people see the need for change and acknowledge that we are on a burning platform.

By communicating a compelling vision we can mobilize people painting a clear picture of what the outcome will be, and how we can benefit from the change.

Present an engaging plan with very clear and practical first steps to tell people how and when their worlds are going to change and when they will receive the information, training and support they need. This will help people take the first steps and get ready to pop.

Democratic design for change

At the core of every successful change effort I would argue that we find a democratic nerve center - an effort to bring key stakeholders on board through heavy involvement and giving everyone else in the organization who is affected by the transition the invitation to get involved and make themselves heard.

All to often we limit the work with designing the change to a small group of "chosen ones" leaving the rest of the organization on hold until they are hit by the tsunami "roll out" - a phase in the process where it's hard or even impossible to make a positive contribution.
Doing this we miss out on the collective knowledge and creativity in the organization and looses the opportunity to win people over from the get go.

I stumbled over this great set of principles for organizational democracy from Worldblu, which makes perfectly sense managing change: 

1. PURPOSE AND VISION
A democratic organization is clear about why it exists (its purpose) and where it is headed and what it hopes to achieve (its vision). These act as its true North, offering guidance and discipline to the organization's direction.

2. TRANSPARENCY
Say goodbye to the "secret society" mentality. Democratic organizations are transparent and open with employees about the financial health, strategy, and agenda of the organization.

3. DIALOGUE + LISTENING
Instead of the top-down monologue or dysfunctional silence that characterizes most workplaces, democratic organizations are committed to having conversations that bring out new levels of meaning and connection.

4. FAIRNESS + DIGNITY
Democratic organizations are committed to fairness and dignity, not treating some people like "somebodies" and other people like "nobodies."

5. ACCOUNTABILITY
Democratic organizations point fingers, not in a blaming way but in a liberating way! Democratic organizations are crystal clear about who is accountable and responsible for what.

6. INDIVIDUAL + COLLECTIVE
In democratic organizations, the individual is just as important as the whole, meaning employees are valued for their individual contribution as well as for what they do to help achieve the collective goals of the organization.

7. CHOICE
Democratic organizations thrive on giving employees meaningful choices.

8. INTEGRITY
Integrity is the name of the game, and democratic companies have a lot of it. They understand that freedom takes discipline and also doing what's morally and ethically right.

9. DECENTRALIZATION
Democratic organizations distribute leadership and power across their enterprise.

10. REFLECTION + EVALUATION
Democratic organizations are committed to looking in the mirror and asking, "How can we be better?" - not just quarterly or annually, but daily.

Are you ready to introduce a democratic approach to your change efforts?