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How to Cause a Change?

Taking into consideration the unique culture which exists in every organization, a plan is developed to transition an organization from where it is today to realizing the strategy. In other words, a plan for successfully implementing the strategy is created,
including what actions must be taken, by whom and when. Because resistance to change can block even the most perfectly laid strategies and plans, crucial to such a plan is building active consensus and collaboration, or buy-in. TOC has developed a process based on the psychology of change that acknowledges and systematically addresses the questions people intuitively ask when evaluating a change:

• Is the right problem being addressed - mine?

• Does the general direction that the solution is heading makes sense?

• Will the solution really solve the problems and what's in it for me?

• What could go wrong? Will anyone be hurt?

• How are we going to implement this solution?

• As an organization, are we really up to this? Do we have the leadership and the commitment to pull this change off successfully?

If these questions aren't answered frankly and effectively with the people who must implement the change, and those who will be affected by it, the proposed change will not have the buy-in and support to succeed, and like most changes, will fall by the wayside and fail before it begins.

These three questions provide the framework for what's called the TOC Thinking Processes. The Thinking Processes are a set of tools and processes that allows an individual or group to solve a problem and/or develop a holistic, integrated strategy using the rigor and logic of cause-and-effect, beginning with the symptoms and ending with a detailed action plan that coordinates the activities of all those involved in implementing the solution / strategy.

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* Contributed by: -
Vempati Karthik,
PGDBM II Semester,
Institute of Public Enterprise,
Osmania University Campus, Hyderabad.