Change Through Persuasion

By David A. Garvin and Michael A. Roberto

WHY IS CHANGE SO HARD?

Most people are reluctant to alter their habits;
What worked in the past is good enough;
Resistance is even stronger if the organization
has succession of leaders;
Call for sacrifce and self discipline is met with
cynicism, skepticism and resistance.

HOW TO MAKE CHANGE STICK?

Persuasion Campaign!

Like a political campaign

Show that the plans are
different from those of their
predecessors
Convince people that
radical changes are
required for the
organization to survive and
thrive
Gain trust by
demonstrating that you are
the right leaders

THE FOUR PHASES OF A

PERSUASION CAMPAIGN
ANNOUNCE
PLAN

Convince staff that radical change is needed;

Demonstrate why the new direction is the right
one

Position and frame preliminary plan; Gather

feedback; Announce fnal plan

Manage staff mood through constant

communication

4
DEVELOP PLAN

Persuasion
Process

Reinforce behavioral changes to avoid

backsliding
IMPLEMENT PLAN

Turnaround
Process

THE PROBLEM
-

A misguided focus on clinical practice rather than backroom

integration
A failure to cut costs
The repeated inability to execute plans and adapt to changing
conditions in the health care marketplace

The hospital was losing $50 million a year

Relations between the administration and medical staff as well as
between management and the board of directors were strained
Employees
felt
demoralized,
having
witnessed
the
disappointing failure of its past leaders.

Phase 1: Setting the stage

Develop a bold message that provides compelling reasons to
do things differently
Publicized the possibility that BIDMC would be sold to a forproft institution.
Delivered an all-hands-on-deck e-mail to the staff citing thr
hospitals achievements while confrming that the threat of
sale was real.
Described the open management style he would adopt.
Circulated a third party, warts-and-all report on BIDMSs
plight on the hospitals intranet

Phase 2: Creating the frame

Present your turnaround plan in a way that helps people
interpret your ideas correctly

A detailed email memo

Phase 3. Managing the mood

Strike the right notes of optimism and realism to make
employees feel cared for while also keeping them focused on
your plans execution
To acknowledge employees feeling of depression while helping

Phase 4. Reinforcing good habits

Provide opportunities for employees to practice desired
behaviors repeatedly, if necessary, publicity criticize
disruptive, divisive behaviors.
-

Levy had established meeting rules requiring staff to state

their objections to decision and to disagree without being
disagreeable.

When one medical chief emailed Levy, complained about a

decision had made during a meeting and copied the other
chief and board chairman- Levy took action. He responded
the email with the same audience publicly reprimanding the
chief for his tone, lack of civility, and the failure to follow
the rule about speaking up during meetings.

In a receptive environment,
employees not only
understand why change is
necessary; theyre also
emotionally committed to
making it happen, and they
faithfully execute the
required steps.

HEAD-HEART-HAND