Change Management: toolkits for change or Viral Change

The standard model for change management seems to be (1) decide on the change, engaging a few people if you have to, (2) create the project/programme plan, (3) set out the vision and communicate it, (4) tell people what you want them to do differently and (5) run the project ... reinforcing the message in the hope that people will change.  There are numerous change toolkits available on the web to support this methodology.  But, with continuing reports of 70% failure rate of change initiatives, isn't it time for a change in managing change?

Viral Change: the alternative to slow, painful and unsuccessful change

I've recently been reading Viral Change (by Leandro Herrero). This puts the case for easing change into an organisation by:

• Framing the change in an appropriate language
• Identifying (and rewarding) a non-negotiable set of new behaviours
• A Change Champion network, who are given the principles of the change and the new behaviours, and then set free to influence ... supported by management rather than reporting to management, and supporting each other through a simple communications channel
• When changes in behaviour are apparent in some areas, broadcast (and reward) this change

This approach focuses on changing people's regular behaviours rather than some nebulous "culture". Rather than a huge top-down programme of change, the initiative becomes one of modelling the change (through managers and change agents), focussing on the positive behavioural changes that start to happen and allowing the organisation to adapt the programme to local circumstances. This feels like a radical new platform for addressing the challenges of organisational change.

2012 update We recently persuaded Leandro Herrero to come and present to the Henley Management group Leadership of Organisational Change. Focussing more on his new book Homo Imitans, he highlighted the problems of traditional change programmes (formal leadership, communication channels and push ... leading to limited success) and compared with his proposed "world II"  change which focusses on behaviours, social copying, informal networks stories and leaders staying backstage.  A challenge to the normal organisational hierarchy, but with the continuing massive failure rate of change programmes, something different is needed ...