Working with Change: Begin With Your Assumptions

When I work with clients on navigating any significant change effort one of the first set of questions I ask them is, "Why change? And why now?".  Organizations sometimes rush to alter systems, structures or strategy to solve problems or take advantage of perceived opportunities. All too often, though, assumptions - often untested - influence leaders to enact change that doesn't stick, or worse, change that creates even more problems or internal turmoil.

Organizational behavior theorist Chris Argyris demonstrated this phenomenon when he created his Ladder of Inference model. In it he demonstrated how we live in a world of self-generating beliefs which remain largely untested. We adopt those beliefs because they are based on conclusions, which are inferred from what we observe, influenced by our past experience. Our ability to achieve the change we truly desire is eroded by our feelings that:

• Our beliefs are the truth.
  
• The truth is obvious.
• Our beliefs are based on real data.
• The data we select are the real data.

This phenomenon is demonstrated in the model below:

Starting at the bottom of the ladder, we have reality and facts. From there, we:

• Experience these selectively based on our beliefs and prior experience.
• Interpret what they mean.
• Apply our existing assumptions, sometimes without considering them.
• Draw conclusions based on the interpreted facts and our assumptions.
• Develop beliefs based on these conclusions.
• Take actions that seem "right" because they are based on what we believe.

This can create a vicious cycle. Our hardened beliefs can have a strong influence on what we choose to pay attention to and can lead us to ignore data that might, in fact, demonstrate that there are holes in our thinking or misperceptions on our part. Soon we are literally jumping to conclusions – by missing facts and skipping steps in the reasoning process.  This can have particularly devastating effects in organizational change efforts when leaders operate off of untested assumptions around critical factors such as market position, bench strength, core competence, or cultural fitness to name but a few.  In addition, leaders can engage teams in problem-solving efforts where the problem has not been thoroughly thought through, change strategy based on miscalculations about marketplace readiness or demand, and sponsor change efforts that drive restructuring that is unnecessary.  Without fail, many of these missteps in driving change have to do with untested assumptions.


In order to navigate change effectively there are a few critical steps to take in setting these efforts up for success:

• Articulate the problem or opportunity that necessitates the need for change. Start your efforts by being clear about what you are trying to change and why. Treat this as a hypothesis, though - not proven fact.
• Test your assumptions by actively seeking data to validate your hypothesis. Gather data from a variety of sources, both internal and external.  Be careful not to pull just from sources that are friendly to your hypothesis. The point here is to validate and test your assumptions before committing time, energy and resources.
• Engage various key stakeholders in the planning process for change. Including a variety of perspectives and points of view in the planning phase of change can help you continue to make sure you are on the right track in regards to your thinking as well as help you consider obstacles to change that you may not have foreseen.

At the end of the day there is no way to validate every aspect of  the thinking around a change effort.  However, starting by making sure you have tested critical assumptions and aligning the thinking of key players involved with and impacted by the change can pay big dividends as you head toward implementation.