Adopting "Change" : A Model

Hi buddies

Often we find ourselves stagnant with the present status we are in - whether individually or professionally. Though we have a great desire to change the status for the better results and achieving growth and benefits, we do not like to go for it due to some reason or other primarily, as a human characteristics no one wishes to come of the inertia generated by the the present status. So, we do not show our keenness or take risk to go for a change. Here is one model which can be of help to those who are at dilemma as to how to go for a change for change is the part of life and its dynamic and essential for one's growth.

1. Unfreezing

Unfreezing is a term which is used for change management. Its like changing the shape of an Ice Cube to a spherical one. And for changing the shape, one has to totally unfreeze the ice so that it is melted to water condition and then put it into an spherical pot so take its shape. Same way one has to unfreeze his/her present mind set and the prerequisites to do these are -

a) To create motivation within himsel/herself to change.

b) Encourages thimself/herself for replacement of old behaviors and attitudes with those desired for a change.

c) To Entai devising ways to reduce barriers to change

d) To develop psychological safety within himself/herself that if he/she goes for a change there cannot be any risk of disaster.

2. Changing

After the process of unfreezing, the process of changing for new horison or new challenges starts. And the prerequisites are -

a) To have or gather new information, new behavioral models, or new ways of looking at things.

b) To venture himself/herself learn new concepts or points of view

c) To look for Role models, mentors, experts, benchmarking results, and training as these are the useful mechanisms to facilitate change.

3. Refreezing

Once one has equipped himself/herself with requirement of a "changing" as mentioned in Point No.2, the process of Refreezing starts. This means after getting rid of the earlier status through the process of "Unfreezing" as shown in Point No.1 and adopting the methods of "Changing" as per Point No.2, one is ready for the "Refreezing" for a change to New Status for ultimate growth in professional life or behavioural change in personal life. The results are -

a) It helps a person to integrate the changed behavior or
attitude into their normal way of doing things
b) Positive reinforcement is used to reinforce the desired change
c) Coaching and modeling help reinforce the stability of change.

This Model of Change Management is called as Lewin’s Change Model.

Hope it will be useful to all who wishes to look for a change in their professional endeavour as well as individual behaviour in day to day life.

good one sikandar and im sure it will be useful

Thanks GL for appreciating.

nice post sikandar
I studied this topic in my HRM course. You summed it up quite well

Thanks Bro. Its quite useful. Do you belong to HR Fraternity?

yup.. i'm a proud member of the HR brotherhood

aawwwwwwwwww me too. You know whisper always remember one thing while dealing with HR issues. This Human Resources Management is derived out of the word Human and Human is not derived out of Human Resources Management. So Human is the key word or you may say key element. So, only with adequate empathy level we can handle this critical item of Human Resources Management called "Human".

well said and written...but do u think changing is easy when we talk abt human keeping in mind the majority...

the human part has to be on top of it all as our Human Resources are our most important asset bro


it is, provided you work according to system developed based on employee needs, if your system is good enough, managing change is as easy as pie. if it isnt, u'r stuck in a mess. the unfreezing part is what its all about.. if u successfully "unfreeze" the existing mindsets and perceptions in any person (regardless of it being the workplace or some social setting and some social change), then you can quite easily manage this change. just dont change everything all of a sudden, take it slow, and bring all the people involved, even u'r employees, into confidence before implementing a new system. and implement it bit by bit, providing the necessary training and employee development..
i studied all this in quite a bit of detail as my major is hr and i'm doing bachelors (honors) in business administration.. so expect boring and in -depth replies from me and sikandar on our subject

Yes - very much. In fact one changes every moment according to situation. But in case of a total change through the methodology of "Unfreezing", one has to go through different layers changes. We have read wha Whisper has written in reference to change of an organisation within the employees concept and mind set. And there is no much diffrence in bringing change in an Organisation and an individual.

Resistance will always be there when we venture into a change. The layers of Resistannce are defined. Even if you wish to bring change in any of the individuals or system in the family, which might shake the existing rules, mind set or systems, there will be resistance. Initially, a section will come out with the query, "aakhir is change ki zaroorat kya hai, sab kuchh theek thaak tou hai". In such case, you must convince them that the change is not just for change. It will bring in the improvement in looking at things with the new concept. Then the 2nd layer will come as saying, "aare ismein bahut kuchh social problem honge ya phir bahut kharch hoga". Again you will have to convince them. After you cross this layer, there will another layer. And a moment will come when the criticism will come to personal level. Thats called ultimate layer. And this is the time, we must enforce change. Otherwise, change will not take place.

And then one has to bank upon the short term achievements to project that change is bringing results. Never go for big results right at the first instance. One has to be taken into confidence that the change as suggested was for the good only. Whisper is right in saying ke short successess will be the foundation of big change. And you will slowly notice that change has taken plac in its full dimension without your realising it that it has actually been.

At personal level too, same theory goes. "Unfreezing" is the must. Let me tell you, "Change" is essential for better and being competitive, even if we are sitting on the best of cushions at the moment. It will help us remain dynamic and keep in pace with the rapid developments which are on the anvil.

Very well said Whisper. The way you described the "Change" is quite incredible. You have a great depth on the subject. I have certain case studies on Change Management where an organisation has completed changed its work culture to remain competitive in the market. Though the company was well set and making profits, but its CEO envisioned the change for future growth and sustenance. The change was such that the company swayed away from its principle business and took up new areas and the profitability soard upto 50 million dollar per annum.

There is one case study of an Indian Engineer who fis the chief artichet of handling the Delhi Metro Rail Project and the project was completed well ahead of time resulting in huge capital benefits and subsequntly phenomenal generation of revenue. And this was done because of the change in the work culture of the agencies working under him and their mind set.

Even on individual terms, look at Sir Jinnah, M.K. Gandhi, Martin Loother King et all how they brought changes in the mind sets of the people in the society and brought change in their thinking level. These people were not very big ones physically, yet they could envision changes, dreamt and realised the dreams through small changes for a big achievement. So, one has to have the urgency of change. Thrust to dream and then realise.

I agree Whisper sometimes, it looks like its a dry subject and, particularly, techies feel like that. But it is the handling of Human in all spheres of life. To me, out of the three "M"s - Man, Machine and Money, to run an organisation, Man is the most critical, complex and important component coz. other "M"s are ultimately handled by the Man only. And this component is not handled by a push button or any theory of Finance Management. It has own unique way of getting handled and every man is unique, its thought process and mind set is unique, way of working too and emotional quotient too. So, it needs deep analysis of human behaviour as a whole on different percepctive, environment and reactions to an issue. Very very tough.. but I enjoy it. I always get backfired by my Love while managing her emotions when she is disturbed with her working difficulties. Even of my best of abilities to pacify her, I sometimes have to shut my mouth to give her time to sustain the outcome of a disaster. And when she is in the state of listening, I come out with my suggestion/model/advices so that she able to understand and adopt according to her working culture and environment.

So, yes sometimes, this subject is very boring - but end of the day very interesting and I enjoy it.

excellently explained bro you just made this whole topic sound easier than it is this is exactly what us HR people are about and this is exactly what bringing change is about.. the best way to implement some changes in anything is to come down or come up to the user's or employee's or person's level and carry them through

Thanks bro .. Credit goes to my Oral Communication teacher

Ahan well I'd love to go through them. My HRM teacher took us to a few places to show us how HR works in those companies. And that is just it. Most people dont have that vision, but the few that do, make their business soar to new heights..

Exactly. I noticed another thing, the best "change initiators" have a lot of entrepreneurial ability in them. They have the vision to initialize these changes, and the ability and skills to take their company to those heights.
What do you think about this? I think every person, specially HR Professionals should have an Entrepreneur in them.

These people make the best role models for us. They worked for the people, with the people. And also cultivated the necessary skills and traits in them. And gradually harvested leadership skills in them.
Along with that, they changed mindsets and perceptions and turned their dreams into reality. These people make the best role models for humanity.

I come from a programming background myself. And I'm also studying marketing here as I'm in business administration. The funny thing is, where most people would say that HR is a "ratta-fication" or cramming subject, that has lots of words but not enough charm, I actually find it the opposite of that. Its just like marketing. You can use your creativity to bring change and to improve your company's operations. Just look at what Verticity has done here in Karachi, and what Google has done in the States. Verticity's office here in Karachi is just like Google's office. That is a major breakthrough, considering the norms and culture of Pakistan and India. People work when they want to, they have a gym, recreation room filled with fun stuff, and even have a seperate room where they can take naps. The employees there work when they feel like it, and are paid for it. They can work at any time of the day, even at midnight, if they choose. That resulted in such high productivity and quality of work that Verticity hands its most important contracts to its Karachi office.
The person who made this happen here had that entrepreneurial vision and skills as well as a deep understanding of Human nature and thinking, and made this all happen. BTW this is inside information, my "Computer Applications to Business" teacher works at Verticity as a Programming Team Leader and he briefed us about it.

Exactly, it is quite interesting, and in many ways, fun.

Thanks Whisper. HR means "Hearing". Patient listening to an issue and then put yourself into that person's shoes to feel the pinch of what he is saying and then come to a conclusion to take right decision.

Anytime bro
Nice definition That's the most important part of HR. Hearing. That's why I chose to go into this field in the first place

Are you interested in Marketing?