How we change what others think, feel, believe and do
Four Change Strategies
Dimensions | Quadrants | See also
Here are four change strategies, based on dimensions of extent and dynamism.
Extent of change
The extent of change is how much change is taken on at one time. Generally, increasing simultaneous change gets geometrically more difficult.
Revolutionary change is a high level of simultaneous change where much of the organization is changed at the same time. This is typically when coping with radical changes in business context, for example with the appearance of disruptive new technologies or legislation.
Continuous adaptation is a slower approach, with an ongoing strategy of non-stop incremental change. It takes the view of change best done in frequent smaller pieces rather than the shock of occasional major change.
Dynamism of change
Dynamism of change indicates how active and involved the company is in managing change.
Proactive change is driven by management before the need arises, so the firm will be healthy and ready when others are struggling.
Reactive change is implementation of change after it is needed. It can be more direct than proactive change but can also be far more difficult to implement.
Strategic Change is large and driven. It is typically as a result of a new strategy that changes the direction of the company whereby the whole organization changes to take advantage of a new opportunity or to cope with fading demand for an old product line.
This is major change, but reacting to a specific event, such as an acquisition or product failure. When the organization clearly is not succeeding and is not likely to succeed, then a radical shake-up may be a necessary move.
This is the classic Japanese-style approach of proactively looking at processes and plans and intelligently improving these to steadily increase capability and output.
This is a reactive approach to ongoing small problems, for example where an overall approach to risk management includes fixes for issues as they arise.