Implementing change is a huge effort, whether on a personal level or within a group or institution.
Just as the force of habit dominates us personally, the same happens with human groups. The improvements we must make within a hospital are undoubtedly changes. Sometimes they are small changes in technical learning and other times they are major changes in culture.
Many changes fail when it comes to making them, because the difficulties that actually exist in changing are not known.
The strategy for change requires us to study it as a large-scale event.
- We will have winners and losers.
- There will be friends and enemies (or simply people who oppose each other).
- It is better to prepare allies, that is, to bring together all those who can help us and instruct them and motivate them to support change.
- There will be an evolution, that is, a process. Not everything will happen in an instant, but in a sequence that must be studied and conducted.
- Change will bring a new reality and new problems.
- If we are unable to achieve the desired change, we must anticipate what the situation will be like and whether there will be a new stable situation.
- Will it be possible and convenient to divide the change into several stages?
To carry out a change requires positioning oneself at a leadership level. The person must stand out for their position, history, virtues or knowledge. On the inside, the leader must have great personal discipline and emotional control of his person.
We normally classify changes as: large, medium and small.
- The big ones will be resisted and probably prevented, as they will seriously affect some.
- The small ones will be dissolved behind when the wave of transformation passes. And there will be no change at all.
- Making several medium changes is a big change and is the most likely path to progress overcoming resistance.
We must emphasize the need to prepare people for change.
Fears, and especially fear of the unknown, create a strong force of opposition to change. It is easier to change when you are fully aware of the consequences and ask for help to move forward.
The hospitable environment, being a human group of many people and different levels with a gradient of authority and a great tendency to exercise positions of power, is especially sensitive to all changes.
The first change occurs in people's minds and then in reality. Therefore, conveying a vision of the post-change reality and selling this idea appropriately is the path to a perfect change.
It is often necessary to argue that change will happen anyway, whether now or later, and that resistance will be overcome in another case, with a better or worse outcome than the current one. People must also anticipate the lack of change. That is, how a situation can deteriorate due to a lack of direction towards positive change, leading to a deteriorating situation. Although we often oppose change in order to maintain the “status quo” or the current situation, in reality there is always change and in this case, due to the lack of a driving force, it will be worse.
There are changes up and down the hierarchical scale and those from below to above. Both can fail due to lack of support. It is necessary to recognize which position you have and complement it with what is missing, that is, both supports are necessary and must be developed.
After the change, you must not trust that everything is fine. Changes go back as often as they go forward. It is necessary to follow up and correct or improve, tying up all loose ends.
In short, we can summarize it like this:
- Study and prepare for change;
- Assume effective leadership, with the necessary support;
- Convey a vision;
- Choose several medium-sized changes to make;
- Perform post-change follow-up and improvement.
Change, death and taxes are the only sure things in life.
Conclusion
If you want to make a possible and valuable change, make several medium changes and that, added together, will result in a big change.
Victor Basso
director of Opuspac Ltda.
Opuspac University (corporate university – educational arm of Opuspac Ltd)
