Letting Go - The Culture of Change

The only thing constant is change.    It encompasses every aspect of our lives.  We encourage the acceptance of new ideas and yet we resist the inherent change those new ideas bring.  We fight the loss of old patterns and the acceptance of new ones.   

Changing organization culture is a very difficult goal to achieve.  There are commonly shared interpretations, values and patterns that must be changed and yet are difficult to modify.   When employees face change within the organization, there are two obstacles to their success.  The social-psychological fear of the change and/or the lack of technical skills to make the change work.  For change to be truly successful within an organization, both weaknesses and fears must be addressed.  Leaders need to be open to discussing concerns with the employees, to clarify the meaning of the change.  What the change means and what it doesn’t mean to the organization.  “An organization should not abandon core aspects of what makes it unique, whereas some other aspects of the organization will need to be transformed.”  Culture is undetectable most of the time because it is not challenged. 

We’re going through reorganization.  Yes, structure does make a difference.  But we must transform the culture; change the way we do things, to be successful.  We must incorporate new ideas and practices.   Changing organizational culture is one of the toughest tasks we’ll ever undertake.  In any organization the established organizational culture is reinforced by new hires because we hire ourselves.  To change the culture, we need commitment to the change, understanding of the impact of the change to the organization and its people, and the tools to implement the change.