What is Whole Scale Change?
Whole Scale Change consists of a series of small and/or large group interactions that enable the organisation to undergo a paradigm shift. It applies an action learning approach, using Whole Scale™ events as accelerators. Using microcosms, groups that represent the entire range of levels, functions, geography and ideas in the organisation, Whole Scale processes provide a powerful way of working with the whole system to create and sustain change.
Whole Scale also enables a 'çritical' mass of the organisation to create a new culture in the moment. The same critical mass then models what the organisation can look like and becomes the vehicle by which powerful change occurs in the whole system.
What is Whole-Scale Change?*
Whole-Scale Change has been used extensively in a variety of public organizations—city and national government, education systems, community organizations, and non-profits.
Developed by Dannemiller Tyson Associates, this highly participative approach provides a robust, highly effective and predictable set of processes to help organizations and communities identify and utilize their own internal abilities to grow, to better lead, and to create the organizations and communities of their own choosing. Typically, organizations and communities already know what kind of difference is needed: implementation of a new vision or strategic direction, new or redesigned work processes, restructured roles/jobs/teams, cooperation between labor and management. What they do not know—which Whole-Scale helps to provide—is (1) how to put the difference in place rapidly and effectively through whole-system solutions, and (2) how to continue the process.
The goals of Whole-Scale are simple. Through a series of small and/or large group interactive sessions that are purpose-driven:
• Organizations and communities work to build a shared understanding of their current reality, a vision of the future, and the action steps to get there.
• Individuals and groups seek to gain a broader ‘‘big picture’’ of and critical need for cooperation among all elements of a system.
• Whole system solutions are created real time and people work to implement them within days or months instead of years.
• Diverse people strive to become ‘‘one brain and one heart’’ which shapes how they go about their work—acting individually with the wisdom of the ‘‘whole.’’
• Personal connections are forged between stakeholders at the individual ‘‘max-mix’’ tables over the two to three days of an event, where each table is a cross-section of all the diversity in the room. Actually knowing people makes calling on them for assistance or information easier and is key to implementation.
• The organization develops skills for using Whole-Scale processes as a way of staying connected and working together, engaging microcosms to continue to refine roles, tasks, and actions. They design and facilitate their own reunions to continue learning and changing.
The paradigm shift
Whole-Scale Change seeks a paradigm shift—a new way of seeing the world. Once people see the world differently, they cannot be stopped from taking the actions that begin to transform their shared vision into their shared reality.
Core beliefs and Values
The core beliefs and values that underlie our approach are:
- Creating empowerment and participation
We believe in engaging the entire organisation in ways that lead to ownership of and commitment to a shared purpose and future direction. Microcosms of the entire organisation are used in all aspects of our approach including event planning, organisation alignment and implementation - Creating community
We believe that when you foster an environment where employees can come together, they can create and believe in something larger than themselves. Our methods create processes where that can take place. The use of 'max-mix' tables at Whole Scale™ events, for instance, brings voices from across the organisation into conversation in a way that builds a sense of community. - Using reality as a key driver
We believe the change process must keep a continual focus on the simultaneous and sometimes conflicting realities that exist in the internal and external environments of the organisation. In Whole Scale meetings, the content is driven by the needs of participants in real work rather than by simulations. - Building and maintaining a common database
'We believe that 'a level playing field' of information and common understanding of the strategic issues informs the discretion of people at all levels so that they can make wise decisions, individually and collectively. By sharing perspectives, all people in the organisation gain a more complete and consistent perspective. - Creating a shared preferred future
We believe creating a collective 'image of potential' for the future forms the basis for action today: People will only support what they have been part of creating. - Creating change in real time
We believe in simultaneous planning and implementation of individual, group and organisational changes around strategy, culture and work processes. - Practicing Action Research
We believe that only through continuous re-examination throughout the process can we adjust our approach to ensure reaching our vision of success. - Transferring learning
We have a strong value for creating self-sufficiency and against creating dependency on us in our client systems. Our goal for the completion of each project is that participants will make our methods their own so they would be confident and capable of carrying on with or without us.
When to use it
Whole Scale works well to facilitate all kinds of change processes, including strategic planning, organisation design, mergers and acquisitions, quality management, reengineering, training, diversity and culture change.
It works well in both the public and private sectors, is amenable to groups ranging in size from ten to several thousand, and can engage people from the top of the hierarchy down through the front line staff. Organisations most likely to consider a Whole Scale™ intervention are those (1) that want to engage everyone or nearly everyone in creating their organisations processes and structures and (2) those with a sense of urgency brought on by a challenging and quickly changing environment. Whole Scale processes effectively facilitate rapid, system wide change under many different circumstances, and in a wide variety of countries, cultures and organisations.
Whole Scale™ includes robust processes that quickly change client systems and prepare them for further substantive change by:
- Clarifying and connecting multiple current realities
- Uniting multiple yearnings around a common picture of the future
- Reaching agreement on the action plans that move them toward that future
- Building the processes, structures and relationships that keep the organisation moving forward
- Aligning the organisation leaders and employees so that they can implement the changes together
- Once the organisation experiences the paradigm shift, people see the world differently
- They are ready to take the actions that will begin to transform their shared vision into their shared reality
How it works
The Event Planning Team and consultants develop the design for a Whole Scale event using the formula for change. This formula, D x V x F > R, says that if an organisation wants to bring about system-wide change, they will need to work with a critical mass of the organisation to uncover and combine their Dissatisfaction (D) with things as they are. Then the next step will be to uncover and combine the yearnings for the organisation they truly want to be, their combined Vision of the future (V). If real change is going to happen, the third design element needs to be First steps (F); a combined picture of things people can do differently that all of them believe are the right ones to achieve their vision. Simple math suggests that if any of the left-hand elements in the formula are missing, the product will be zero, and the change effort will not be able overcome Resistance (R) People will resist change if they don't have Dissatisfaction, Vision and agreed upon First steps to reach that vision. The DVF formula describes what an organisation needs to do to enable a paradigm shift. If the organisation can uncover and combine all three elements, everyone will shift into a new 'world view'. At this point, neither individuals nor whole groups can comfortably keep doing what they were doing. Change has already begun.
Clients help decide which element to address first, but they need to address all three elements eventually if they want to achieve sustainable change. The resistance to change that is inevitably present is a resource. It tells consultants and leaders what they need to know and where the points of leverage exist that will enable them to facilitate real change.
Cost effectiveness
Whole Scale is cost effective because it enables an organisational paradigm shift to occur, and this shift produces fast results. When people fully understand the speed with which the world is shifting, they yearn to change their organisation with the same urgency. Rapid Whole Scale™ Change costs less than traditional top-down cascade methods.
No comments:
Post a Comment