The Process of Change

When the leadership decides to change directions, it is not always easy to get everyone to come along. Inertia, skepticism, and fear conspire to block any changes to strategies, processes, or goals. Overcoming these obstacles takes real work that must not be overlooked – the change process must be a key part of any new organizational direction.

The AIGA suggests that your workers will need to be inspired, convinced, cajoled, and educated to get them on board with the changes. This is true, but they left out a key component – getting your staff to identify with the changes.

The main problem with organizational change is that it shakes up the way people think about their work, their role, their purpose, and, fundamentally, their identity in the company. People resist change because they are afraid of losing their identity in the process. To make change happen successfully, you need to give them something to hang their hat on. You need to help them shift their identify from the old way to the new direction. You need them to see where they fit in, explore their new role, see their relationship to others, and appreciate their value. You need to engage them in a discussion of the changes and invest them in making the changes succeed. You need them to see how these changes will enhance their value and strengthen their identity within the company.

So change in an organization is not just about persuading your employees to come along; it is about showing them how to cross the river to a new, better identity.

I agree with AIGA that designers play a key role in making this happen. Changes to structures, processes, or strategies require changing the way one thinks. Since people understand the world through metaphorical and visual schemas, changing the way they think means changing the way they see or visualize the work. Designers provide the link between new ideas and visualizing new schemas by taking concepts and language and presenting the core notions, relationships, and processes in pictures that people can connect with. When they connect with these pictures, they integrate them in their thinking about the work. It is then that they can best implement new strategies, processes, or directions for the company.