The Wheel of Change
— Transforming Organizations, Revitalizing Communities and Developing Human Potential
— a metaphor for making meaningful change matter
The following is one metaphor for change-facilitation. It is based on the Change Formula: DVFS>R.
Although our western perspective of chronological thinking would suggest otherwise, transformative Change IS NOT simply a linear progression along a timeline or schedule, rather – it is much more like a repetitive cycle. “Change happens.” The question is how we harness its force.
The ‘Wheel of Change’ has no automatic predetermined direction, only internal motion. It can move forward on momentum in improving the progress of a system, organization, or community – or backward against resistance, when change engagement fails and participants feel even more frustrated than before the change initiative. Potential for either lives within this wheel, not moving in one direction – but rather, ‘round and ‘round like the hand of the clock.
When sponsors and change champions are unwilling to endorse necessary change, when leadership is unwilling to yield (some level of) control, when individuals or portions of the system are too afraid to leave the comfort of the status quo (even while being frustrated with its reality), when focus on disagreement and shortcomings disallows a realization of common ground and common vision – the wheel will get sucked up against the backward movement of resistance to transformative change.
An effort to move forward toward a better future then, would try to place this wheel of change firmly onto the foundation of the Momentum for transformative change (see figure 3). Note that the internal motion of the wheel does not change!
It seems worth noting that even in this forward motion, the individuals and subsets of the system may not feel like they are moving forward at all. Picking four points on the wheel may help illustrate this.
At point 1 of the cycle, there may be a sensation of “We’re going down!” – A realization of need, which hopefully triggers or even implies a dissatisfaction with the status quo and a desire for change.
At point 2 of the cycle, as team members work to be change agents and try to plan and envision the future, they may, in fact, feel like they are going backward – having to revisit the past before the present – in order to establish a clear vision of the future.
At point 3, as they decide on a method for their approach and implement the first steps toward realizing the change believed necessary; they may believe that “we’re finally going up!”
And at point 4 of the cycle, as the implementation begins and structures and supports are put in place, they may very much fell like they are now “really moving forward;” only to soon realize they have again arrived again at point 1.
It is important to understand that in reality, all 4 points on the wheel move forward simultaneously! It is the nature of the circular motion that at any moment, a snapshot of any point of the wheel may seem like stagnation, or like going in the wrong direction. However, no one consideration (at points 1-4) can exist or progress as an isolated event independent from any other point on the wheel.
A universal and comprehensive formula for transformative change describing this phenomenon has been developed by Kathy Dannemiller that was further explored by Steve Cady (2006): D x V x F x S > R
D – a shared, common Data-base of information that creates an understanding of the Dissatisfaction with the current state and a Desire for change,
V – a positive, compelling Vision (not a fantasy) for a desired future state,
F – First steps towards realizing the Forward motion of the vision,
S – Structures and Supporting mechanisms towards the Sustainability of the vision, and
R – Resistance to change, contentment with the status quo.
BUT Resistance is also information, it can speak to what is needed to help with
M – the Momentum for Change – which may be expressed in workplace morale, output, stock price, …
The following formulaic depiction for M – Momentum describes the metaphor of the wheel of change:
{ (D x V x F x S) > R } = M.
Notice that when any one of the four factors: Desire, Vision, First Steps and Supports are nil – Resistance prevails.
When the key drivers of change (DVFS) are greater than the resistance to change (R), however, paradigms shift and the status quo can no longer be upheld. Successful change then, could be illustrated as follows: Point (1) becomes D, (2) becomes V, (3) becomes F and (4) becomes S.
If transformative change was a finite process – the progress resulting from this effort would be incremental and temporary. The wheel of change would not come to come to rest on the foundational momentum that continues progress from the rotational forces of change. In order to sustain the transformative change, – the wheel has to continue to turn, in turn (pun intended) repeating the cycle of (D x V x F x S), to perpetuate its forward motion.
The formula for Sustainable Transformation therefore becomes:
(D x V x F x S) x = T with, T – being Sustainable Transformation and x –indicating the number of repeated cycles of change.
Check out NEXUS4change’s webinar series of 30-min. high-impact change tool talks. Check our events page [www.NEXUS4change.com/events] for more on the power of Design Teams, the Change Formula, Collaborative Roadmaps, Appreciative Benchmarking and more.