【中英双语】清晰确认组织在变革中的状态

约翰·科特(John P. Kotter) 凡妮莎·阿赫塔尔(Vanessa Akhtar) 高瑞夫·古普塔(Gaurav Gupta)  

2022年07月13日 14:54  

最近我们服务的一位 CEO 表示:“疫情确实迫使我们去找一些比疫情前更好的做法。我不想在疫情后放弃这些新方法,该怎么办呢?”

A CEO we work with recently remarked, “Covid-19 has actually helped force us to find some new practices that are better than those we employed before the pandemic. I don’t want to lose those new practices when Covid-19 is over. So, what can we do?”

 

她的问题反映了许多人的想法——每个人都已经适应了疫情。然而,它也强调了一种隐含的信念,即这种情况完全是反常的,一定会过去,恢复到变化、不确定性和破坏性较低的“新常态”。

Her question is reflective of what we are seeing and hearing from many people – the Covid-19 pandemic has brought adaptation to the forefront of everyone’s minds. However, it also underscores an implicit belief that this situation is entirely anomalous, something that needs to be weathered before returning to a “new normal” with low levels of change, uncertainty, and disruption.

 

然而所有迹象都表明,不断增加的波动性、复杂性和快速变化已经成为新常态,需要新的方法来推动组织内部变革——采用新方法动员员工积极参与到收集意见、创建解决方案和提供领导力等工作中。

Yet, all indications are that increasing volatility, complexity, and rapid change is the new normal, which requires new ways to drive change within organizations — new ways that mobilize the employee base to actively participate in gathering insights, creating solutions, and providing leadership.

 

我们正在围绕新兴的变革科学建立一个框架,推动构建敏捷性和适应性更强的组织。该框架基于三类研究:现代组织的结构及其局限性(其以管理为中心的设计是为了提升可靠性与效率)、领导力和成功的组织变革、“人性”与对变革的抵抗及变革能力。

We are developing a framework around an emerging science of change that can be useful in this push to build more agile, adaptable organizations. It is grounded in three streams of research: the structure of the modern organization and its limitations (whose management-centric design was built for reliability and efficiency), studies of leadership and successful organizational change, and the study of “human nature” and our resistance or capacity to change.

 

生存与发展的区别

The difference between surviving and thriving

人类对多种变化怀有抵触的同时,也会受好奇心驱使寻找新奇的事物。接受和抵触变化的区别根源在于我们的大脑与身体之间的联系。进化造就了一个双通道系统,负责我们在不确定时期的大部分反应。生存通道被威胁激活,就会导致恐惧、焦虑和压力等感觉。这些感觉会激活交感神经系统,若无异常,会将所有的注意力集中在消除威胁上;发展通道被机会激活时,就会与兴奋、激情、快乐和热情等感觉相关联。这些感觉会激活副交感神经系统,让我们拓宽思维,以新的方式进行协作。

Human beings are resistant to many kinds of change. However, we are also a species driven by curiosity and programmed to seek out novelty. The difference between embracing and resisting change is rooted in our brain-body hardwiring. Evolution has resulted in a two-channel system, which is responsible for much of our response in times of uncertainty. The Survive Channel is activated by threats and leads to feelings of fear, anxiety, and stress. These triggers activate the sympathetic nervous system and, when working well, direct all attention toward eliminating the threat. By contrast, the Thrive Channel is activated by opportunities and is associated with feelings of excitement, passion, joy, and enthusiasm. These triggers activate the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing our mind to broaden its perspective and collaborate in new ways.

 

创造智能、快速的变革,意味着防止生存通道过载,同时在足够数量的人群中激活发展通道,从而带来更多创新、适应和领导力。

Creating smart, fast change means preventing the Survive Channel from overheating while activating the Thrive Channel in sufficient numbers of people, leading to more innovation, adaptation, and leadership. 

 

回顾最近关于组织变革的报道,关于领导力的教训十分清晰——显然需要更多人提供更多领导力。领导这一行为,而非领导者的职位,具有应对当今变革挑战的能力。如今迫切需要重建现代组织,并创造一个能够培养更多自主权、更高参与度和更强领导力的环境。

Reflecting on recent stories of organizational change, no single lesson comes across as clearly as one related to leadership — specifically, the need for more of it from more people. Leadership as a behavior, not a position, has the capacity to meet the change challenge of today. There is a strong need to reconstruct the modern organization and create an environment that fosters more autonomy, participation, and leadership.

 

生存通道相对强势,再加上传统管理系统强调的可靠性和效率,组织往往会使生存通道过载,而发展通道激活不足。领导者需要为自己和他人缓解过载的生存通道并扩大发展通道,才能够让组织实现快速转型和变革。

The relative strength of the Survive Channel, combined with the emphasis on reliability and efficiency reinforced by traditional management systems, leads to organizations that generally overheat the Survive Channel and under-activate the Thrive Channel. Organizations that can pivot and change quickly require leaders who can both calm an overheated Survive and amplify Thrive, for themselves and others.

 

调节生存通道

Modulating Survive

传统的变革管理方法侧重于时间表、预算、影响评估、文档、广播通信和管理控制,旨在减少阻力并提高采用率。虽然这些做法可以有效消除障碍并解决问题,但由于以管理为中心的“不得不”关注,也可能无意中激活生存通道。我们建议领导者充分利用以下策略来抑制生存通道对恐惧、焦虑和压力的自然激活:

The traditional change management approach with its focus on timelines, budgets, impact assessments, documentation, broadcast communication, and management control is designed to reduce resistance and increase adoption. While these practices can be effective at removing obstacles and solving problems, they also have the potential to inadvertently trigger a Survive response because of the management-centric “have to” focus. We recommend that leaders utilize the following tactics to curb the Survive channel’s natural activation of fear, anxiety, and stress:

 

减少噪音

Reduce the Noise

管理者和员工收到的可操作信息数量不断增加,随之而来分散注意力的“噪音”也随之增加,为找到正确信息和做出正确决定增加了困难,同时容易触发生存通道。电子表格、每月预算更新、客户满意度调查以及更多的业务运营都会给大脑制造威胁信息,让人无法集中关注优先事项、进行创新。

While the amount of actionable information that managers and employees receive is increasing, it is accompanied by an even greater increase in distracting “noise.” This makes it harder to find the right information and make good decisions, but can also easily trigger the Survive Channel. Spreadsheets, monthly budget updates, customer satisfaction surveys, and many more artifacts of business operations can all provide some information that the brain views as threatening — making it impossible to focus clearly on the most important priorities, to innovate, or to develop new ideas.

 

为了减少这种噪音,领导者应该扪心自问:哪些报告被发送给了对其没用的员工?哪些活动仅仅因为是习惯而继续进行?哪些指标是多余的或收效甚微?会议、报告和一切重复活动以什么频率举行更合适?

To reduce this noise, leaders should ask themselves: What reports are being sent to employees who have no real use for them? What activities are continuing simply because that is how we have always done things? What metrics are redundant or only marginally useful? What frequency is truly appropriate for meetings, reports, and any repeat activities?

 

令人惊讶的是,根据解决问题的有效性和激活生存通道的能力来评估行为,就可以消除大量噪音。如果某个特定活动可能触发组织中的生存通道,除非你确定该活动对特定威胁有效,否则请务必叫停。

It is astonishing the amount of noise that can be eliminated by evaluating actions and initiatives through both their effectiveness at addressing a problem and their capacity to activate Survive. If a particular action is likely to trigger a Survive response in the organization, proceed only if you are convinced that it is addressing a true threat.

 

消除非必要的不确定性

Eliminate Unnecessary Uncertainty

不确定性甚至比已知威胁更严重,可能造成生存通道过度活跃。我们对威胁的自然反应仅仅是专注于消除它,但是不确定的威胁很难解决,会导致生存通道长期处于高度激活状态。因此领导者最重要的职责之一就是尽可能地消除不确定性。

Uncertainty, even more so than known threats, can trigger an overactive Survive. Our natural response to a threat is to focus solely on eliminating it. But an uncertain threat is hard to address, leading to a prolonged state of highly activated Survive. This is why one of the most important roles for leaders is helping to remove uncertainty whenever possible.

 

领导者通常认为,不提供信息要好于提供不完整的信息,但这样做只会在员工中造成焦虑,或损害自己作为领导者的信誉。因为我们天生具有搜寻威胁的雷达,员工很可能用自己的假设“填补空白”。这些假设通常不准确,或者是推测最坏的情况,进一步加剧了焦虑和对生存通道的激活。对已知的、未知的、正在采取的行动以及预期结果等保持透明,可以让员工了解情况,防止员工产生毫无根据的恐惧或焦虑。

Leaders often believe that providing no information is better than incomplete information but doing so will only create anxiety amongst employees or hurt their credibility as a leader. Given our natural threat-seeking radar, employees are likely to “fill in the gaps” with their own assumptions. These assumptions are often inaccurate or presume worst-case scenario, further exacerbating anxiety and Survive activation. Transparency around what is known, what is unknown, what actions are being taken, and what outcomes are anticipated can provide context and prevent unfounded fear or anxiety.

 

激活发展通道

Activating Thrive

调节生存通道,可以给发展通道和相关的积极领导行为留出空间——高度参与、积极主动、前瞻思维、创新和协作。想通过组织使更多人获得领导力,必须高度激活发展通道,可以采用以下方法:

Modulating Survive creates space to activate Thrive and the associated positive leadership behaviors — high engagement, initiative, a forward-looking mindset, innovation, and collaboration. Leadership from more people through the organization is only possible when Thrive Channels are highly activated, using techniques such as:

 

依靠机会,而不仅仅是威胁

Lean on Opportunities, Not Just Threats

除了一些快速变化的创业环境,如今组织中很少有关于机会的对话。领导者通常会用“平台着火”的方法来推动变革——将眼前(通常是具有威胁性的)危机作为改变的导火索。这种恐惧驱动的动力鼓励了一些初步行动,但是会关闭发展通道。“平台着火法”可能在需要更高强度或“更加努力工作”短暂爆发的情况下奏效,但在新想法或新工作方式对成功至关重要时碰壁。后者需要的是由获得令人兴奋的机会的渴望所激发的行动。

Some fast-moving entrepreneurial settings aside, very little of the conversation in organizations today is about opportunity. Often, leaders resort to driving change through a burning platform — using an immediate (and often threatening) crisis as a tipping point for change. This fear-driven motivation encourages some initial action but shuts down Thrive. A burning platform may work in situations where more intensity or a short burst of “working harder” is needed, but it does not work where new ideas or new ways of working are critical to success. What is needed, in these cases, is action motivated by a desire to achieve an exciting opportunity.

 

面对挫折也要不懈地寻找机会,这就需要了解形势。组织面临什么样的挑战?通过创新可以实现什么?哪些客户、员工、社区、供应商或股东的需求没有得到满足?满足这些需求能得到什么回报?回答这些问题并在组织中充分交流存在的可能,对激活发展通道,并使员工看到和抓住机会至关重要。交流抱负、可能性和激动人心的前沿信息会触动人心,而不仅仅是头脑。这会鼓励员工自愿参与进来——而不仅是出于责任。

Relentlessly finding opportunities, even when faced with setbacks, requires understanding the landscape. What are the organization’s challenges, and what is possible through innovation? What customer, employee, community, supplier, or shareholder needs are not being addressed, and what is the payoff of meeting those needs? Answering these questions and flooding the organization with communication about what’s possible is critical to activating Thrive and enabling employees to see and respond to opportunities. Communicating aspirations, possibilities, and exciting frontiers touches hearts, not just minds, which encourages people to engage almost voluntarily — not only because they have to.

 

庆祝进步

Celebrate Progress

管理系统擅长提供进度报告和内容更新——主要侧重于评估绩效,以便找出差距,并在需要时采取纠正措施。但这个系统缺少对成功的庆祝,庆祝成功对于说服怀疑论者、消除障碍以确保成功来说至关重要。认可、交流和赞扬里程碑式的成就或取得成功的试点工作,可以为维持变革提供所需要的积极能量。创造一个经常大声庆祝成功的环境,可以为启动寻找机会的雷达做好准备,并且减少激活发展通道所需的能量。

Management systems are adept at providing reports and updates on progress — largely focused on assessing performance to identify gaps and take corrective action where required. What is missing is the celebration of success, which is critical for convincing skeptics and removing obstacles to successful implementation. Recognizing, communicating, and applauding the achievement of milestones or successful pilot efforts can provide the dose of positive energy needed to sustain the change effort. Creating an environment where success is celebrated frequently and loudly primes the opportunity-seeking radar and reduces the energy required to activate Thrive.

 

委托控制权

Delegate Control

我们最确定的发现之一是,成功的变革在早期得到了不同类型员工的广泛参与和支持。员工会对自己协助创造的事物给予不成比例的高度重视,这种想法通常被称为宜家效应(Ikea effect),早在心理学文献中有诸多记载。个人在决策中拥有更多自主权时,不仅会更加努力确保决策取得成功,也会以关注机会的主动心态来对待它。这会激活发展通道和相应的积极情绪:自豪和目标感。

One of our clearest findings is that successful change efforts have early engagement and support from a broad, diverse employee base. The idea that people place a disproportionately high value on things they helped create, often referred to as the Ikea effect, has been well documented in the psychology literature. When individuals have more agency in making decisions, they will not only be more committed to ensuring these decisions are successful, but they will also approach it from a “want-to,” opportunity-focused mindset. This activates Thrive and the corresponding positive emotions: pride and purpose.

 

团队、组织和整个社会,面临的唯一最大挑战,是要迅速适应周围环境日益增加的不确定性和复杂性。疫情期间,全球都经历过这种挑战。在应对这个变化越来越快的世界时,任何一个组织的成败都可能影响成千上万人的生活。采取新方式,并将领导力视为每个人都可以展示的行为,我们就可以更好地应对快速变化,构建真正有利于成长的工作场所和环境。

The single biggest challenge we face as teams, organizations, and a society at large is to adapt fast enough to match the increasing uncertainty and complexity around us. We have experienced this on a global scale throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Any single organization’s success or failure at dealing with this increasingly fast-changing world could affect the lives of many thousands of people. By acting in new ways and thinking of leadership as behaviors that we can all exhibit, we can better respond to rapid change, and create workplaces (and communities) that truly allow people to thrive.

 

约翰·科特是畅销书作家,屡获殊荣的商业和管理思想领袖,企业家,哈佛商学院名誉教授,《变革》(Change)作者之一。

凡妮莎·阿赫塔尔是 Kotter 的董事,负责公司复杂的转型项目,《变革》作者之一。

高瑞夫·古普塔是 Kotter 董事,拥有为不同行业的客户将战略转化为成功的实施的经验,《变革》作者之一。

陈战| 译   蒋荟蓉 | 校   孙燕 | 编辑

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