CHANGE

Change

Change

The behavioral healthcare industry continue to face numerous challenges on many different fronts. Reimbursement and funding regulatory compliance, new legislation--all present significant challenges to organizations, and they will continue to impact the way organizations do business. Within this can manage complex

change effectively will not only survive, but thrive. As a behavioral healthcare consultant who has assisted hundreds of organizations nationwide in their efforts to manage change, I have come to believe that it is the organization's leadership--the management team--that has greatest impact on the success or failure of any change effort.

Leaders often seem to be more comfortable focusing on implementing a change rather than attending to the process of change. Few leaders are aware that when managing complex change, the leadership's attitude and behaviors should be addressed first. Because complex change involves a variety of organizational levels, it is important that an organization's culture and structure be set up to deal with change. Change management should be viewed as a core competency to be mastered by the leadership team, not as a reactive or defensive action.

I often work with behavioral health organizations to strengthen what I believe are the 12 core competencies of optimal organizations--those working at maximum effectiveness and efficiency. The ability to manage complex change is one of the most important of these competencies. However, in my work with organizational leaders and management teams, I have seen that leaders of organizations, not unlike the employees they oversee, often resist change.

Leaders are just like everyone else: The thought of change--especially complex, strategic change that affects multiple levels and processes within an organization--Is likely to be met initially with fear and resistance from them. After all, change involves risk, instability, and struggle. Leaders may fear failure or loss of control, or they may resist moving out of their comfort zones. We all become creatures of habit, and we often would prefer to keep the status quo rather than deal with the unknown. Yet leaders inevitably recognize that to remain competitive and to survive in this field, change is required. It is often at this point that the unique challenges of complex change become apparent.

The major mistake I often see leadership teams make is initiating an action plan without first preparing their staff for change and involving them in the change process. I use a template that illustrates five stages that are necessary to successfully implement complex change (figure). This template, developed by Dr. Mary Lippitt of Enterprise Management, not only helps leaders understand the need to involve all levels of the organization in the change process, but it can also be used to review previous attempts at change and understand why they might have failed: The outcomes on the figure's right side are the results of problems in the highlighted stages to their left

When evaluating the outcomes of their efforts, leaders should also objectively evaluate their own performance in implementing the change process. Leadership teams must be willing to make adjustments in their performance, if necessary, ...