DEBRIEFING LARRY BOSSIDY

FORMER CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL

What Makes Change Happen?

by Lauren Keller Johnson

You have been charged with implementing a significant new initiative. Perhaps your company has defined a new competitive strategysuch as entering new markets or going globaland you need to align your group behind it. Or maybe youve identified stubborn problems in your unitorder-processing mistakes, duplication of effort, budget overrunsthat need solving. Your goal may be clear, but how clear is your strategy for reaching it? If youre like most executives, the answer is, not clear enough. Indeed, most major change initiatives fail, many of them soon after implementation begins, says Larry Bossidy, coauthor with Ram Charan of Confronting Reality: Doing What Matters to Get Things Right (Crown Business, 2004). The reason? Executives commit one or more of several common errors, all of which stem from insufficient planning and follow-through. Some leaders assume that their units culture has the flexibility and openness required to accommodate major change. They ram the initiative through their grouponly to encounter stiff resistance that ultimately sabotages the effort. Or they fail to articulate the initiatives benefits. If people dont understand the purpose of an initiative, Bossidy says, theyll be skeptical about devoting their time and energy to it. Some leaders also dont realize they must stay involved during implementation and continually communicate the initiatives importance. They just announce it and walk away, Bossidy says. The result is initiatives that do little other than wander and drift. Executives who want to avoid these and other prevalent mistakes when implementing new initiatives should look to these five steps:
1. ASSESS THE PREVAILING CULTURE

do you like about the unit (or company)? What dont you like? Solicit opinions about whats causing your groups or enterprises most pressing problems; for example, Why does it take so long for us to get products to market? Why do we make so many order-entry mistakes? Listen for answers relating to your groups flexibility and openness to change. Do people feel encouraged to take risks and learn from their mistakes? Are they comfortable talking about problems?

Building momentum through smaller changes is particularly potent. It shows people they can rise to the challenge and enables you to begin more complex changes later.
While assessing culture, resist any temptation to bury your head in the sand because you dont want to hear uncomfortable truths. A lot of managers dont ask these questions because theyre in denial, says Bossidy. Deep down, they feel that their culture cant be changed, so they decide that diagnosing it is a waste of time. Based on your cultural assessment, decide whether your team is capable of embracing the initiative youre considering.
2. CONDITION THE CULTURE

Before launching any change effort, carefully assess your units or companys culture. Get outside opinions, Bossidy advises. Ask people you trusta consultant, customer, supplier, former executive of the company whether they think the culture can fulfill the objectives of the initiative. External opinions are valuable because people on the inside see the culture as they want to see itnot as it actually is. Also get a read on your culture from internal sources. Ask employees and managers questions such as, What

If youve decided that the current culture is a poor match for the effort at hand, you must condition the culture. Make the business case for changein compelling terms, Bossidy says. Then start with something simple, to build confidence and demonstrate that people can work effectively together. Building momentum through smaller changes is particularly potent. Succeeding on a small initiative, no matter how simple, provides a foundation for the next, Bossidy says. It shows people that they can rise to the challenge and enables you to begin more complex changes later. This phenomenon works on every level within an organization. For example, while serving as CEO of Morristown, N.J.based AlliedSignal (which later acquired and took on the name Honeywell), Bossidy conditioned

Copyright 2007 by Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.

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the culture for the companys eventual adoption of Six Sigma by introducing an increasingly challenging series of starter initiatives first. These included TQL, or total quality leadership, which encouraged people to work as teams, gain experience with problem-solving tools, and analyze work problems in a classroom setting.
3. COMMIT TIME AND ENERGY

key implementation milestones. Have an end-of-theyear or end-of-the-quarter party, where you recognize and reward peoples contributions to carrying out the initiative. Constantly remind people of your appreciation, and show them the quantifiable benefits of the changes theyve made so far.

Some initiatives, once implemented, reach a plateau. As the novelty wears off, peoples energy and enthusiasm wane. To combat this tendency, the best change leaders stay involved throughout implementation of the entire initiative. Kickoff speeches and delegation are not enough, contends Bossidy. Leading an initiative requires intense focus, hard work, tremendous time, and endless physical and emotional energy.

Leading initiatives will never be easy. But by applying a few potent principles, you can sweeten the odds that your initiative will survive the most common hazards.
If youre entering a situation where your predecessor had begun a major initiative, evaluate its merit. If its good, Bossidy says, keep sponsoring it. But put your own stamp on it. Look for new angles to introduceanything to keep the effort fresh in peoples minds.
4. CONSTRUCT AN ABLE IMPLEMENTATION TEAM

A change leader needs to constantly breathe new life into the initiative.
A change leader needs to constantly breathe new life into the initiative. For example, after Bossidy helped Six Sigma take root at AlliedSignal, he ensured that new generations of black belts (individuals who can explain Six Sigma philosophies and principles) were trained. He also recommends celebrating achievement of

THE PERILS OF POORLY MANAGED INITIATIVES

A badly led change initiative can wreak havoc on a unit or entire company. It can breed cynicism and damage a managers credibility, making introduction of the next change far more difcult. As Larry Bossidy claims in Confronting Reality, There are no free throws with initiatives: if one is important enough to launch, it cannot be allowed to fail. Failure costs time and money. Now, consider the outcome of a well-led initiative. A successful change effort shows people how to unite in action, Bossidy says. It also helps people face down fear of failure, giving them the condence needed to tackle bigger challenges. And it gives you a picture of how people respond to the demands of change in a dened contextthus providing a sort of working model of your groups or companys functioning.

Assembling the right team to carry out an initiative is the most difficult yet most important imperative for change leaders, Bossidy maintains. As he writes in Confronting Reality, Naturally, you want people who are enthusiastic about leading initiatives, but you also need to make sure theyre functionally suited to the job and motivated to make things happen. If, for instance, youre introducing a new customer relationship management system to your group, ensure that the people who will be carrying out the initiative have a strong customer orientationas well as a comfort level with and knowledge of the technology. And if your implementation team needs the participation of a few individuals from other departments, be prepared for resistance from their leadersmany of whom dont want to lose their best people to an outside project. Appeal to these leaders camaraderie, commitment to teamwork, and pride in the company, says Bossidy. Let them know youre depending on them. Reassure them that they wont be losing a talented employee forever. And help them find ways to reassign responsibilities. Whatever you do, dont let pushback from these folks stall the initiative.
5. CALL ON YOUR COURAGE

Initiatives require people to think and act in new ways. They can require a leader to change some individuals or units responsibilities or remove them entirely from the team

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or company. Such changes in structure will create real or perceived winners and losers, Bossidy writes in Confronting Reality. To ensure the initiative stays on track, deal directly with any aggrieved constituencies and [make] sure that good people arent discouraged or driven out when their part of the business is cut down, he says. Your challenge here is to remain both inspiring and unrelenting. Let people know that there will be consequences for not supporting the initiative. Your message? Weve thought about the pros and cons, and concluded that this is something we must do If people arent on board with us, there will have to be changes made. Changes in rewards can also add muscle to the message, Bossidy explains. At AlliedSignal, for instance, 30% of a business-unit leaders bonus was tied to progress on Six Sigma. Leading initiatives will never be easy. But by applying a few potent principles, you can sweeten the odds that your initiative will survive the most common hazards. u
Lauren Keller Johnson is a Massachusetts-based business writer. She can be reached at MUOpinion@hbsp.harvard.edu.
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HARVARD MANAGEMENT UPDATE | OCTOBER 2007