THE CHANGE AGENT'S GUIDE

Continuing Improvement with a Change Strategy

To sustain and improve upon a planned change program over the long term, it's helpful to approach renewal as part of a broader change strategy.

Repeat. At the most basic level, there is the possibility of repeating the process, recycling through these same stages with another selected concern or perhaps the same concern now seen in a different light. But now things should be different: the agent, the users, and the client system as a whole should be a little wiser, having come to understand something more of what the change process is all about.

Freeze. (Lewin’s third step). What can be done now to codify and internalize this learning so that change can become a continuing thing, a process that is thoroughly internal to the system as a whole? This is the essence of what we mean here by “Renewal.”

Improve. To be able to repeat the same process is a laudable achievement in itself. However, we should aim to improve the process each time we repeat the cycle. “Improvement” can mean a number of things, such as:

Including more people as participants in the change process
Working on tougher problems
Working on concerns that affect more people more deeply
Completing the cycle more quickly
Completing the cycle at less cost, measuring “cost” any number of ways, not just dollar cost, but effort cost, person-hour cost, disruptive cost, etc.
Achieving outcomes that provide: more benefits, more certainty, and/or expansion to more people.

Photo: person reading iPad with RENEW stage flowchart

Graphic: Clipboard with 1 RENEW question

Exploring RENEW Topics

The process of change is ongoing. It does not end discretely with a single project or a single cycle of activity such as we have outlined in the preceding stages.

The Change Agent's Guide explores Stage 7: RENEW through these sub-steps:

7.1 Repeating the Cycle
7.2 Improving the Process
7.3 Keeping the Change Fresh
7.4 Creating a Self-Renewal Capacity
7.5 Passing On the Process
Stage 7.6 Transforming the System I: From Item Change to System Change
Stage 7.7 Transforming the System II: What is "Better"?
Stage 7.8 Terminating and Moving On

To explore these topics, read The Change Agent's Guide.

Graphic: open book with change cycle on left page and extend flowchart on right page

RENEW Summary

A successful change is a change that lasts in some form beyond its first cycle. Thus, a minimum requirement for renewal just means doing it again in the same place and under the same circumstances as in the original effort.

However, a change agent who is good at renewal sees to it that the change is sustained and built upon, possibly spreading to other sites and circumstances. Even beyond the substance of the particular changer, the Renewal change agent should be working to improve how the system responds to and engages in the change process, itself. Is it possible to instill a positive problem-solving capacity within the system?

When all is said and done, and you as the change agent sense that genuine renewal has taken place following all the work that has been done so far in system building and problem solving, it may be time to move on. Then, as you move on to other projects, you can take along what you learned with this particular experience and apply it to further work with others.