Welcome to the E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Change Flywheel
The flexible modular tool-rich framework that helps implement change easier, with more benefit faster.

Abstract

Successful change implementation hinges on people, and while not everything is malleable, effective guidance and support can significantly improve outcomes. The E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Change Flywheel, centred on the people side of change, equips leaders with an approach and wide array of change tools that will enable them to craft a promising change plan, gain traction, and navigate the intricate dynamics of change.

• Using this model and tools therein boost leaders’ proficiency in implementing change.
• It helps receivers of change to progress from unaware to motivated and competent for the new.
• This does not only make the change easier and with more benefit faster.
• It will also sharply reduce the need for costly external support.

The flywheel, illustrated to the right, identifies 4 (grey), potentially 5 accelerators or brakes on change. Then in the outer ring, 2 navigation areas and 4 traction areas that help to create motion and sustained momentum, all six of them with a multitude of proven tools.

Developed, practiced, and refined over 30 years, this flexible modular framework stands alone or integrates seamlessly with other change and project management methods, allowing users to customize tool usage.

This document offers a high-level description of the forces influencing people's adoption of change and outlines key considerations for successful change realisation. For further inquiries or comments, please contact me at wally@propulse.partners.

Introduction

Initiators and senders of change often hold positive views of ’their’ change. Receivers of change however, tend to be less enthusiastic. The reality is that a large proportion of change initiatives fall short. Researched causes point to the human factor.

The E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Change Flywheel states what elements tend to make adoption of transformational change difficult and, by means of tools, how to address accelerators and brakes on change to help create motion, momentum and finally adoption and competence in the implementation of transformational change. All the while securing business continuity.

This model and modular tool-rich framework, equips leaders to address the human factors that make and break change success. Developed, used and improved over three decades, this framework has demonstrated to be very effective over a range of industries, in various cultural settings and wildly differing situations.

Important features that the E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Change Flywheel provides, comprise amongst others:

• Guidance on how to work and overcome the often difficult aspects of the human side of change.
• Proven effective change intervention tools.
• Facilitator documentation to support successful facilitation of workshops and other change interventions.
• Automatic connecting of outputs to inputs between tools that promotes alignment, logical sequence of change interventions and efficiency.
• Easy to grasp user oriented set-up, search engine and navigation possibilities.
• Admin rights that allow to define write and read access of users.
• Storage of input and output on the client’s own servers.

As such, it stands as a valuable resource for leaders, consultants, mentors, and trainers preparing for-, or during change.

Towards the end of this document we list the benefits that we have witnessed during and after deploying this modular model and tool-rich framework. In all cases that we could measure, did usage of the E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Change Flywheel have a colossal positive effect.

The journey of driving successful change is ongoing, and this framework invites collaboration to further enhance its effectiveness. As we strive for continuous improvement, let’s drive change together.

Below pages will make you more acquainted with the E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Change Flywheel. Looking forward to hear your reactions and ideas to make it even better.

Wally van Heukelom
Founder of Propulse People Performance
Owner of ProPePe AB.

Understanding the forces: Accelerators and Brakes on Change.

Organisations seek predictability and habit. This fosters efficiency, quality and stability and lie at the base for growth. To this end we install and cherish various stabilising forces in our organisations. However, stabilising forces that optimise in a 'steady state' may become brakes on change. These forces fall into four categories. Depending on how you drive the change, potentially five. Let’s have a look at them.

Formal Forces

These consist of formal elements that help to give direction to the organisation structure, and generate a predictable output. To formal forces can be reckoned objectives, strategies, policies, decisions, documents, formal culture just to name a few. Separately, they may either accelerate or impede change. Accelerating for example when a failure-forgiving culture champions those who do groundbreaking work. Hindering for example when a bonus structure frustrates closer collaboration.

Informal Realities

Informal realities are at work when subgroups covertly question authority or divert from formal plans and policies. Instigated by different beliefs, hidden agendas, and informal power. Informal realities can have positive effects but also hamper unity and execution power. They can be very strong and tenacious. In a positive manner, think of a dominant co-worker safeguarding the team’s functioning during long absence of the manager, or in a negative manner, people covertly ridiculing a change initiative.

Processes and Skills

To the third group we reckon processes, systems and routines, that people adhere to as well as the skills needed to produce intended output. Think how accustomed we get to what and how we do things. On the positive side this can lead to continuous improvement, whilst change may require letting go of engrained ways of working, causing resistance.

Growth rings

Our individual biases, attitudes and opinions formed over years of experience, shape our responses to aspects that do or do not fit our established logic or beliefs. This serves us in productive ways in certain situations, but can be counterproductive in other situations. Think of co-workers frustrating a manager’s proposal to solve a long existing problem by a tenacious ‘we have already tried that’ attitude.

The fifth brake or enabler comes into play during change. It is the energy that is evoked by how the change will be implemented. How leaders plan, execute and steer the change process, will greatly define the degree to which their efforts are met with resistance or positive energy. Insufficient change proficiency amongst leaders has strong negative consequences for the success and cost of change. On the contrary, strong people-change competence gives change-initiatives wings. Especially, the more impactful changes, even when the change has significant negative impacts for people.

Hoping for an ideal and smooth ‘wind at your back’ scenario in change, will most likely prove to be naive. It is only realistic to anticipate one or more types of brakes will be at work during your change and that some hard uphill work will present itself.

To make change easier with more effect faster we need to prevent brakes in change doing their destructive work and instead create and amplify accelerators that cause motion, momentum and sustained effort in favour of the change.

The six elements of the E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Chang Flywheel do just that.

• Explore & Navigate for navigation purposes and,
• Encourage, Release, Grow and Youthen as traction elements.

Let’s explain in more detail.

2 Elements for orientation: Explore & Navigate

Explore

Explore is about increasing the understanding of the change and the context. A rich set of tools allows a comprehensive approach that provides crucial insights in the as-is situation and keeps track of the developing situation.

Navigate

Tools in Navigate support to craft a promising change plan that has least needed infringement on daily operations and that takes contextual factors into account. Navigate also comprises tools to steer during the change journey based on progress rather than only on blue print plans.

4 Elements for traction and sustained momentum: Encourage, Release, Grow & Youthen

Encourage

The tools in Encourage are to generate and sustain a positive change push. It involves activation, reinforcing and where needed aligning of formal forces.

Release

In ’Release’ we focus on mobilizing and amplifying a change pull, by focussing on already existing motivation and competence. Where needed this also comprises influencing the informal network as real progress and adoption is severely hampered as long as informal leaders across relevant parts of the organisation do not support the change.

Grow

Grow is about upskilling and involves methods to attain higher competence levels with minimal disruption to daily operations. We have for example identified enhancements that demand less time and yield greater value more rapidly.

Youthen

Youthen is about compassion for employees and aligns with self-interest as a leader as this mitigates sympathetic negativism, fostering a more positive attitude and helping to embrace and master the new. Youthen contains tools that aim to support those who, for whatever reason, are yet unable to commit to the new. The term refers to making youthful in terms of behaviour, or qualities of mind or feeling1. While our accumulated experience, represented by 'growth rings,' provides immense value, there are instances where old ideas and logic lose their relevance and require rejuvenation, need to be youthened In order to whole heartedly adopt he change.

Benefits

In cases where the E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Change Flywheel was deployed, we measured following effects:

• Faster result from the change - leaders who did not embrace the E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Change Flywheel never achieved quite the same benefit and were one year late in achieving benefits.
• Lower cost of change - less use of expensive consultants
• Better aligned and more change-competent leaders - the organisation did successfully implement next changes, again with better results than benchmarks, without external support.
• More unity and better collaboration on the change and thereafter - better growth performance than benchmark for three consecutive years.
• Incredible and beyond expectations business benefits
  • Increase in turnover - up to 6,5 times higher than benchmark.
  • Lower fault cost – more than halved fault cost compared to benchmark.
  • Lower sick rate - more than halved sick rate.
  • Decreasing staff fluctuation - 33% lower staff fluctuation compared to benchmark.

Closing words and recap

The E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Change Flywheel is grounded in the belief that positive and enduring energy, from both initiators, senders and receivers is the most important ingredient to propel long lasting change success. The flywheel metaphor encapsulates the essence of providing stability and accessible power, ensuring an unbroken drive for change.

Get acquainted with the E.N.E.R.G.Y. for Change Flywheel. This unique framework supports receivers of change to move from unaware to motivated and competent for the new. Usage of this framework will make change easier, with more benefit faster. It seamlessly integrates with project management methodologies and other change models, providing organisations the flexibility to incorporate tools of their preference.