Dealing with Unplanned Change

 

Whereas models of planned change help leaders chart the course for change, change is frequently sudden, unpredictable and not planned. The economy changes, competitors come up with a new product, an environmental disaster happen or unions go on strike. Managing unplanned change falls into the domain of crisis management. A crisis occurs when leaders and their organization substantially misread their environment or are caught off guard by events they could not have foreseen. Once crisis occurs, it is difficult to control. Leaders can manage unplanned change to some extent by taking the following steps before a crisis develops. As you see, the steps have much in common with learning organizations, a topic we review later on.

 

• Avoid becoming too formal, hierarchical, rigid and inflexible

• Infuse moderate amounts of uncertainty, unpredictability and spontaneity into decisions to help prevent complacency

• Stay on the offensive and be proactive with introducing new strategies, product, services or processes

• Replace and rotate leaders to bring in fresh ideas, methods and visions

• Experiment often with new methods, products, processes, structures and so forth to help followers practice dealing with change