Originally Published in Forbes, Written by Charlie White, 07/24/2024
If you have ever been a part of a change management effort, you know how much of a pain that process can be. Even simple initiatives can seem to drag, requiring a ridiculously outsized effort. More fundamental changes can be a make-or-break event for a company.
This friction is a well-known phenomenon for any company in maturity and generates billions in revenue for consulting companies. Why is change so hard?
Culture, Climate, System
Change is difficult when goals don’t align with your climate and culture. Instead of working with the ethos of the entire organization, unaligned goals end up falling on the shoulders of leadership, causing stress, excess workload and poor results.
You can either work with the alignment of your company behind you or you can work against it.
The Model
This generalized organizational model separates important aspects of your company that often get conflated with one another. It is simple and intuitive, but we often forget the importance of each layer.
Culture is the unwritten rules, shared beliefs and common behaviors that shape how things happen in an organization. These important personal and social values end up defining the shape of interactions, problem-solving and decision-making.
