24 Laws of Leading Change
John Kotter famously stated in his book “Leading Change” that ~70% of all change initiatives within companies fail. But why?
Change is hard. Any kind of change. But transformational change takes it to a new level, largely because we must overcome the inertia of our past successes. Transformational change requires counter balancing forces to change the orthodoxy in companies. We studied these challenges and identified 24 leading causes. We then created success strategies to mitigate each.
Driving and Managing Change
Transformational change is by its very definition disruptive. Even the most strategically and organizationally agile companies struggle with implementing change that demands horizontal or meaningful cross functional change.
Organizational structures, decision making processes, organizational power, culture, business processes, and systems are all designed to support the existing system, not a new one. Working as experienced practitioners implementing adaptive and transformational (aka cultural change), ROIG has studied the challenges associated with change. The Laws were developed as an antidote to these implementation challenges and detail what needs to occur in a successful change effort.​
​​​
Inspiration for the laws
When a transformational change is successful, there is an alignment of strategy, talent, and culture. Even if the goal is to "keep up with the market," constant adjustments need to be made in one or more of these areas. For effective, lasting change, the stars need to be aligned. Triple alignment of strategy, talent and culture. The triple crown. All things touch all other things. And for those doing organized strategic planning, strategy and stated objectives alone is not enough. There needs to be an understanding as to the drivers of effective change and how to lead and manage it to ensure the entire organization is aligned and invested.
​​
Most leaders are materially gapped in the science of leading this type of work holistically. By leveraging ROIG's 24 laws, leaders can anticipate, identify, and effectively manage specific elements of change over the lifecycle of change in more bit-sized, digestible ways.
There are five key areas of transformational change and each of the 24 laws are mapped to one of five key (overlapping) areas. The names of each law highlight the challenge or need.
Organizing and preparing for change
Law of the Compass​​
Law of the Cryptex
Law of Pace and Digestion
Law of Sequencing
Law of the Umbrella
Law of Gravity
Managing and developing
leaders
Law of Ptolemy (Resistance)​​
Law of Machiavelli (Apathy)
Law of Opportunity
Law of Eat Me!
Law of Survival
​
Leadership roles and decision-making
Law of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table​​
Law of Cabinet Solidarity
Law of the Ringmaster and the Jugglers
Law of the Ring
Monitoring and adjusting (execution)
Law of Good Intentions​​
​
Law of Momentum
​
Law of the Pig Pen
​
Law of the Telephone Game
Defining the work to be done (planning)
Law of the Hammer
​
Law of Execution
​
Law of Unitended consequences
​
Law of the Elephant
​
Law of Inertia
​Each of the laws outlines the organizational need and corresponding challenge, along with assessment elements, frameworks, tools, and steps to overcoming the challenge.
Interested in understanding the details of each of these laws and how to apply to your next transformation? Contact us to learn more.
Call
(952) 417-6394
Visit
6400 Flying Cloud Dr #110, Eden Prairie, MN 55344