Exclusive Interview with Hans Finzel

Author of Change Is Like a Slinky—30 Strategies for Promoting and Surviving Change in Your Organization

By Shari Lifland

It's no secret that many people do not welcome change. Yet today's management gurus keep reminding us that constant change must be an integral part of each organization's mission. In the forward to Hans Finzel's provocative new book, Change Is Like a Slinky—30 Strategies for Promoting and Surviving Change in Your Organization, (Northfield Publishing, 2004), John Maxwell writes, “Adapting to and mastering change is not a choice. In fact, today's motto for leadership is “change or perish.”

Shari Lifland interviewed Dr. Finzel to learn more about how leaders can deal effectively with change and to find out why “Change Is Like a Slinky.” Following is Part I of that interview. Part II will appear on the Members-only Website next month.

AMA: How did you come up with the idea to base a book about change on the Slinky?

Finzel: Most people fear change. I was looking for an analogy that would warm people up to the idea of learning to be more flexible. Then I came upon a Slinky and thought, “Here is an enduring toy that everyone played with as a kid.” I wanted to show that change can be positive and fun, like playing with a Slinky. Its properties and its history teach us a lot about change dynamics. And, like the 67 feet of coil wire that make up a Slinky, change goes on and on in never-ending cycles for all of us. We can learn to become more resilient and flexible by relating these qualities to the good old Slinky.

AMA: Is change really more prevalent today than it used to be? Haven't people had to adapt to change in all aspects of life since the beginning of time?

Hans Finzel: It is the pace of change that is heating up. I call it change compression. Our grandparents and parents saw major changes take place in cycles of twenty years or perhaps decades. Today, we see dramatic mega shifts in business plans occur in just a year or two. For example, my wife recently bought a new cell phone to replace the dinosaur she purchased just one year ago. As we walked out of the store with it, she mused, “I wonder how long it will take for this one to become obsolete?”

AMA: Why do people resist change?

Finzel: The longer I study human nature, the more convinced I am that most people just want to stay in their comfort zones. Spencer Johnson says it well in Who Moved My Cheese : “A change imposed is a change opposed.”

Here is my laundry list of why people resist change:

• “It ain't broke…Why are you trying to fix it?”
• Fear of the unknown and/or loss
• Lack of trust in leadership
• Loss of their comfort zone
• Cynics–any change is bad
• Insecurity–I may be worse off
• Insecurity–they may be better off!
• Power–I may lose some or all
• Inertia–status quo is strong
• Energy–it takes a lot of work!
• Cost–money and time
• Pressure–who has the time?
• History–they've experienced a poor track record of change
• Differing visions of where we should go
• Doubt–how do we know the right course?

AMA: Not everyone responds to change in the same way. Are some people just more open to change than others?

Finzel: I have actually identified a whole spectrum of responses to change and how people deal with it. It is helpful for leaders to identify their allies and adversaries as they lead the quest for change. This list can help them figure out where people line up in the journey of change:

• Ritualist–Just punching the time clock. “Whatever. I am not really here in spirit anyway, just in body, so let them do what they want.”
  
  
• Retreatist–The silent, passive-aggressive type. “I will do what I can to prove that they are wrong with quiet resistance.”
  
  
• Rebellious–Those who can cause serious damage through disruptions. “I will actively do what I can to prove that they are wrong with aggressive sabotage.”
  
  
• Conformer–The compliant one. “I will do whatever I am told. Never rock the boat.”
  
  
• Complainer–The whiners. “Those people in management are nuts! I will let them know it at every turn.”
  
  
• Early adopter–They are worth their weight in gold. “I see what they are proposing and it makes sense. I will throw the boomerang in the right direction and try to keep it from going back to the old ways.”
  
  
• Late bloomers–Those who eventually come along when they have warmed up to the new ideas and had their minds and hearts convinced. They are from Missouri: “Show me.”
  
  
• Innovator–Those wonderful people who say, “I can improve what they are talking about and make it even better!”

AMA: What do you think is the most critical area of change that today's businesses must embrace if they are to be successful?

Finzel: We have to build change into the DNA of our organizations. Leaders have to be students of change and become change agents. That is why I wrote my book—to help leaders on this journey. The companies that are thriving today are moving toward a resilience culture. Like it or not, we are living in revolutionary times for all businesses. Revolution has innately negative connotations: upheaval, unrest, displacement, even war. But when things get bad enough, everyone accepts revolution. We have to change from a planning model of the future to a preparedness model. Instead of focusing on plans for an unpredictable future, we must build an organization that is prepared for anything. To the flexible belong the spoils. That is what it means to have a DNA of resilience and that, in my opinion, is the first priority of businesses today.

AMA: You spent 10 years helping prepare Eastern European leaders to deal with the fall of communism. What did those experiences teach you about change and how to deal with it?

Finzel: What I learned is that we hold on too tightly to the methods that gave us our past successes, and it is those very methods that we have to let go of for future success. We were not prepared for the fall of communism. When it happened in 1989, those organizations that were used to working in the totalitarian climate failed to make the shift. All the old rules went away and the successful companies that moved in to seize new opportunities were not the old players but new ones. What worked in 1984 and 1994 does not work in 2004.

AMA: When faced with an organization that will not change, how can an individual determine when it's time to just give up and go elsewhere?

Finzel: There are times when people should leave their company and move on. Here are a few guidelines that I use to advise people who are wrestling with this all too common question:

• You no longer respect the leaders. Your personal or professional integrity has been compromised and you can no longer accept the actions of management in good conscience.
  
  
• The frustration level is much greater than the opportunity if things did change: the juice is no longer worth the squeeze.
  
  
• You are viewed as a source of problems. People see you as nothing but a complainer with your continual attempts to push change.
  
  
• Great new opportunities knock on your door.
  
  
• Contract commitments are completed and you are free to go.
  
  
• You hate your job. It makes you literally sick.

AMA: Can anyone be an agent of change? Or does effective change have to start at the top of an organization?

Finzel: I believe that anyone can promote change, but unless the leaders eventually buy in, the chances of really profound change are slim.

• Leaders—It would be an ideal world if leaders always welcomed change with open arms. However, that is usually not the case. Leaders often have the most to lose and the least to gain by revolutions that upset the status quo.
  
  
• Followers—You would be surprised at the power of followers. In corporate America, we have witnessed stockholder revolutions that have brought dramatic change. If you are just one of the members of the group and not a leader, you still have tremendous power to bring about change.
  
  
• The Board of Directors—Look at what the Disney board is doing. I have watched many boards of directors through the years and I find more of them than not are asleep at the wheel. It is amazing how many passive boards exist, especially in the non-profit sector. Boards need to be aware of what is going on and need to hold executives accountable.
  
  
• Constituents—Constituents are members of organizations. In a volunteer organization, they are the volunteer members. In a school, they are the parents, students and graduates. In the local church, they are the members of the congregation. In a government, of course, it's the citizens. Constituents have tremendous power of influence if they get themselves organized. Most organizations ultimately exist to serve the constituent base. So constituents definitely have a right and a responsibility to be proponents of change.
  
  
• Customers—As customers, you can always vote with your feet. If you don't like a place, don't give them your business. In market-driven economies like ours in the U.S., customers are king.
  
  
• Young and old alike!—Creativity is certainly not a domain dominated by the young. People at any age and any stage of life can be effective change agents.

Click here to read Hans Finzel's Five Ways Change Is Like a Slinky.

Dr. Hans Finzel is president and CEO of CB International, headquartered in Littleton, Colorado. He spent 10 years in Vienna, Austria providing leadership training in Eastern Europe for an aggressive training effort that eventually prepared over 5,000 leaders for the fall of communism and the unprecedented free enterprise opportunities that followed. Some of his other books include The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make (Cook) and Empowered Leaders (Word). Dr. Finzel can be reached at Hans@cbi.org.

To learn more about how to deal effectively with change, consider these AMA seminars:

• Planning and Managing Organizational Change
• How to Build Resilience in Your Staff and Yourself