What is the relationship between guitar strings and organizational change?
We all know that stringed instruments must be tuned frequently, as their strings tend to lose tension. This tension is necessary for the musical notes to sound accurately and harmoniously.
In the processes of transformation and change, we naturally seek to lower or soften tension at all costs. However, it is important to understand that some level of tension is inevitable. Moreover, a certain level of tension, accompanied by proper Change Management, could generate benefits with respect to:
- Activate more strongly the sense of urgency regarding change
- Mobilize leaders regarding their role as facilitators of change.
- Promote a culture of care and well-being in the teams.
- Understanding resistance to change as a common and prevalent element
- Mitigate productivity and performance losses as a result of change
However, there is an art to managing stress levels so that they are optimal, just as a master guitarist is an artist.
Therefore, we tell you that organizational stress has different levels that impact people and teams in different ways. Let's review each of them:
Low Voltage
- The organization is not providing the necessary urgency
- People meet the minimum required
- Slowness and delays in ongoing projects and initiatives
- Sense of superficial harmony in the equipment
- Leaders maintaining the status quo
Fair Tension
- Ability to focus on what is urgent and important
- Focus on people and the effects of change on them.
- Continuous feedback mechanisms to listen and trigger alerts
- Close leaders and containers
- Equipment Resilience / Back-up System
High Voltage
- Constant and prolonged pressure on people not to decrease their performance
- No attention is paid to the effects of change on people.
- Leaders focused on putting out operational fires
- There is no distinction between what is urgent and what is important, there is no prioritization
- Saturation to change, multiple initiatives impacting at the same time
- No back-ups, missing hands, missing hours, no spaces in the calendar
What is the biggest risk that change is producing high levels of stress in your organization?
The risk is that people fail to keep pace with the rhythm and speed of change, and suffer the same fate as the strings of the guitar, cutting themselves off when the tension reaches its limit: people become exhausted, reaching the extreme of burnout.
What you are probably asking yourself right now is: How are the stress levels in my organization (Low - Fair - High)?
What effects is this level of stress having on people and project development?
At The Change Lab, we help organizations to properly manage their change and transformation processes, so that the stress caused by change is not a headache, but a mobilizing element.
For this reason, we collaboratively seek the transfer of knowledge and the development of organizational capabilities in everything we do. We are convinced that we must contribute to help organizations manage their change and transformation processes more easily.
This is why we invite you to review the information on our International Certification in Change Managementaccredited by the Association of Change Management Professionals, which is about to start its next version.
You can also SCHEDULE a time to discuss and apply directly by meeting with the Program Facilitator.
About the author of this article:
Gustavo Leoz is Head of Change Management Projects at The Change Lab.
Director and Founding Member of ACMP Chile (Association of Change Management Professionals).
Organizational Psychologist UDP
Specialist in Digital Transformation