As I mentioned in the Introduction, the Co-Create model was inspired by many theorists and practitioners. Each helped shape our thinking and guide decisions about how the model should be used. While there are many other models out there, these have worked for us day in and day out. In this section, I share several of these sources of inspiration and where you can learn more about their work. All of the resources listed in this section are also referenced in the Notes section at the end of the book. Broadly, the influences come from disciplines within behavioral or management sciences:
• Organizational development
• Leadership
• Quality improvement
Kurt Lewin: In the 1940s, Kurt Lewin and his associates developed one of the classic change models. This model frames tasks in understandable terms and is applicable for many types of change—both individual as well as organizational. Lewin breaks change into three parts: unfreezing, change, and refreezing. The first step, unfreezing, speaks to the need for getting ready to change. Using the metaphor of water unfreezing brings to mind a solid structure, ice, needing to change form. If it remains frozen there is not much chance of creating productive change. The best you can do with ice is to break it or put some chemicals on it creating a mess. Unfreezing occurs when we create the case for change and set up the process for moving through it. Done effectively, it provides the rationale for the change. At the end of this stage there may be uncertainty and doubt about what the future holds but there is no doubt about the need to change. During step two we do what’s required to make the change, including learning about the current state. Information is gathered from many perspectives. Once a good understanding is achieved, the work of figuring out how to create a better future begins. This work continues until the change is at an implementable stage. The third step, refreezing, is about implementing the change and making it the new norm. This is where new learning occurs, mistakes happen, and new patterns are established. The beauty of Lewin’s work is that it provides a basic framework from which to build.
Edgar Schein: Schein built upon Lewin’s basic change framework and added additional insights for each of the three stages of change including:
• Unfreezing: Schein believes that unfreezing begins with some level of dissatisfaction with the current state. It might be driven by environmental factors, competitors, or new technology, or by a more internal focus—a need that is not being satisfied. Schein believed that once we feel dissatisfied, our psychological reactions will tend to be guilt or anxiety. On the individual level one may feel that they should have anticipated the change or that they have somehow failed. This then creates the anxiety based on the judgments (internal or from others) that may come if change does not occur. This connects directly to self-esteem and beliefs about one’s competence. This fear of failure provides a tremendous amount of juice to stimulate action. Schein believed that if guilt or anxiety is too high it inhibits a person’s willingness to step out of the current pattern of behavior and take the risk of learning something new—to make the change. A key task of the change agent, therefore, is to balance the disconfirmation and the creation of anxiety.
• Change: Once a person or group is open to change there is an opportunity for the change agent to provide new information or perspectives on the topic under consideration. This happens because there is a relationship established and the individual or group has positively identified or connected with the change agent. Trust and relationship create a safe container within which to do the work. Without safety, employees will not be able to access or use their creative energies.
• Re-freezing: Schein believed that the change needed to be congruent with the expectations and culture of the organization. The change must work within the work environment or the change will fail to take hold or maintain itself.
Ron Lippitt: Ronald Lippitt worked directly with Kurt Lewin and felt that his three stages of change needed to be expanded to five and that the term phases better described what actually occurred in the change process. Lippitt’s phases are:
1. Development of the need for change.
2. Establishment of a change relationship between the change agent and the client organization.
3. Working toward change.
4. Generalization and stabilization of change.
5. Achieving a termination or ending the change contract between the consultant or change agent and the client organization.
Lippitt’s work acknowledges the importance of the change agent role and clearly identifies a beginning and end to the event.
Peter Senge: In Chapter 2, I mentioned how we are using the U model created by Peter Senge, Otto Sharmer, and Betty Sue Flowers. Here, again, are the elements of the U model:
Sensing (Suspending): Gathering and considering information and mental models about the current state.
Redirecting: See things from a systemic and holistic way. Become aware that we may need to think about things differently and modify their current work activities.
Letting Go: Letting go of definitions of success and mental models that no longer serve our goals. Opening up our minds to new possibilities. Being more coachable.
Letting Come: This is the creative work that comes as much from the heart as well as the head. Having confidence in the rightness of right things. The essence or seed of the solution becomes conscious.
Crystallizing: Bringing together the new ideas to build a path forward.
Trying Out (Prototyping): Experimenting with new approaches. Learning from the process of trying. This step involves iterations—making adjustments based on the learning derived from trying it out.
Locking In (Institutionalizing): Adopting and forming new habits and regimens. The new becomes your natural.
We use the U model to ensure that we build self-awareness and strength on an individual basis and this helps us create the safe container that Schein articulated.
Peter Block: Peter Block, a writer, community activist, and organizational development thought leader, has contributed significantly to the literature about change management. His work has helped those in internal or external consulting roles understand and consider what’s going on at each stage of the change process. At the very highest level his consulting model is comprised of four stages:
1. Contracting: Actions at this stage include developing a deep understanding of the problem, a clear expression of wants, an exploration of concerns about control and vulnerability, and giving support.
2. Diagnosis/Discovery: At this stage, Block suggests that consultants help employees treat each interaction as a learning event, identify current actions that contribute to the problem, and explore and clarify today’s reality without judging it.
3. Feedback: During the third stage of change, it is important to funnel the data, present personal and organizational data, seek and manage feedback, focus on the current state, and help individuals’ combat feelings of defensiveness.
4. Implementation: The final stage of change implementation should be characterized by high intensity participation, placing a variety of choices on the table, changing the nature of conversations, transparency and the public expression of doubt, and co-creating structures to fit your purpose.
Here is one of my favorite quotes of Peter Block from his book, Flawless Consulting:
Part of our task as consultants is to bring the right of assembly and freedom of speech into our organizations. In practical terms this means creating assemblies where there is an opportunity for all voices and points of view to be heard. Where reality in the words of the audience becomes as important as the reality spoken from the podium—perhaps more important. And where those at the podium tell the truth about failure and uncertainty.
William Bridges: The Bridges’ model of transition distinguishes between changes and transitions. Bridges defines change as an external shift—something that happens. Examples include a new boss, work process changes, new coworker, merger, or acquisition. A transition is the psychological experience or reorientation process that precedes and accompanies the event. Transition is the process people go through when faced with a change. The Bridges’ transition model focuses on how people transition and has three phases including:
• Ending: Before you can begin something new you must experience an end to the current state. The ending may require a letting go of old behaviors, beliefs, or self-perceptions. The ending results in loss, even when the change is perceived as favorable. The emotional response of ending may look like anger, bargaining, anxiety, sadness, or disorientation. To help people end and proceed through their transition, facilitators, leaders, and team members need to help mark the ending, define what’s over and what’s not, and treat the past with respect. When people get stuck in the ending phase, they resist change and revert to their old practices.
• Neutral Zone: Bridges described the neutral zone as the in-between state. It can be confusing, ambiguous, and uncomfortable. People feel like they are unsure what to do and where they fit in and this might lead them to feel anxious, overloaded, or overwhelmed. The neutral zone is also a very creative time because systems and processes are ripe for reinvention (correlates back to Lewin’s unfreezing stage). Transition strategies for the neutral zone include defining what’s known, creating temporary systems, strengthening connections between people and functions, engaging people in re-creating a new future, and increasing the frequency and openness of your communication.
• New Beginning: When the new change takes hold, people can shift into their new role and build routines. When we transition to the new beginning stage, we have accepted and adjusted to the change and our focus, comfort, and energy increases and stabilizes. Training, involvement, and communication are key actions that help bring the team’s transition to the new beginning.
The inspiration we have derived from the Bridges model is most apparent in our team and individual phases of the Co-Create model.
Dr. John Kotter: Dr. John Kotter, professor emeritus at Harvard Business School, is well known for his contribution to the science of change management. In 1995, Kotter introduced his eight-step change process in his book, Leading Change and then drilled down on a portion of the model in A Sense of Urgency. Kotter observed that over 70 percent of all major change efforts in organizations fail. Our projects have the potential to add value to the business or fritter away its resources. Kotter’s change process includes the following steps:
• Step One—Create Urgency: For change to happen, it helps if the whole company really wants it. Kotter urges us to develop a sense of urgency around the need for change.
• Step Two—Form a Powerful Coalition: It is critical to convince people that change is necessary. The initial phases of the Co-Create model are designed to create urgency and form a powerful coalition for change.
• Step Three—Create a Vision for Change: Kotter believed that ideas needed to be grounded by an overall vision. Our Co-Create defining stage help serve this need.
• Step Four—Communicate the Vision: What you do with your vision after you create it will determine your success. The commitment we make to ensure projects are inclusive and participatory processes helps us keep team members and stakeholders connected to the project.
• Step Five—Remove Obstacles: Kotter stressed the importance of removing sources of resistance or project failure and empowering people to execute the vision of the project.
• Step Six—Create Short-term Wins: Nothing motivates performance more than success, especially team success.
• Step Seven—Build on the Change: Kotter argues that many change projects fail because teams and leaders don’t stick things through to the end. Quick wins are important but are not the same as victory.
• Step Eight—Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture: Finally, to make any change stick, it should become part of our regular ways of working and culture.
Kotter felt that the toughest of the eight steps is creating a sense of urgency. This is particularly likely when too many number one priorities compete for our time and energy. We use our project roadmap and the Co-Create model to help ensure that we work on a project completely and well. We want to enable our employees to do their best work, not just more work.
David Herold and Donald Fedor: We love Change the Way You Lead Change, a book by Herold and Fedors because of the useful way they suggest that people think about and describe opportunities for change. We particularly love their list of questions, organized into the following five sections:
1. What do you think needs changing?
2. Who should lead the change?
3. Who is expected to adopt the change?
4. What is the internal context like?
5. What is the external context like?
Our project owners refer to the complete list of questions when preparing their project whitepapers.
The Co-Create model is our framework for project management excellence and is a change model at its core. But as William Bridges acknowledged, it is the people who make change happen and who drive performance. Here are two experts in the fields of teaming that we were inspired by.
Peter Scholtes: Peter Scholtes’ book, The Team Handbook is a classic and we refer to it often when preparing project whitepapers. Scholtes stresses the importance of thinking through not just what tasks need to be completed, but also how the work fits in with current processes, workloads, and the culture. Here are a few of my favorite questions from The Team Handbook:
• What is important to the customers about the product, process, or service?
• Why should the project or work be done now?
• How will the team focus its work?
• What business constraints must be taken into account in scheduling the project or work?
• Who can the team turn to for expert guidance and coaching for improvement?
As you have read throughout this book, we believe that the time you spend defining the current state and possibilities up front saves you time in the end and creates a better end product.
Bruce Tuckman: In Chapter 2, I shared Dr. Bruce Tuckman’s model of team development. This model is an important reference point for how we ensure and improve the health of our team dynamics. Here, again, is a brief synopsis of the five stages of Tuckman model:
1. Forming: The initial stage of team development where members are getting oriented to one another and seeking to understand their roles and boundaries.
2. Storming: This stage of team development is characterized by style clashes, conflict, and working points of differentiation out. We find that familiar team members can go back to this phase when a new project or task brings disagreements to the surface.
3. Norming: The team is getting to know each other and is working through how to work well together. Their efforts look and feel more cohesive.
4. Performing: The team is utilizing the strengths of their relationships to get more done. Their ability to collaborate and solve problems is a competitive edge. Roles are flexible but clear.
5. Adjourning: The team creates closure for their work and feels complete in the task of marking the project’s end.
Our teams talk about these stages and have learned these terms to help them self-diagnose teaming challenges and work through the stages of development together. And they know that any change—such as the introduction of new members or project setbacks—can cause the team to revert back to less developed stages.