What do I need for a successful change? What do I need to think about? With this Map of Change we try to give an overview of the most important elements of a successful organizational change. We have put these elements into relation with each other. Even though the Map of Change is designed with a humorous intention, it represents a sincere topology of the core elements of an organizational change.
The map is included in our book “Der Weg zur professionellen IT – eine praktische Anleitung für das Management von Veränderungen mit CMMI, ITIL oder SPICE” (The way to professional IT – a practical instruction for process improvement).
The Continents of the Map of Change
Our world of change knows two major continents: in the East the “Continent of Stability” and in the West the “Continent of Change”. Both continents are separated in the middle by the “Bleak Forest”. Changes, resp. innovations from the Continent of Change have to overcome the obstacle of the Bleak Forest to reach the Continent of Stability and be adopted there. Many dangers lurk in the Bleak Forest. You can get lost in it very easily and not find your way out anymore.
On the Continent of Stability you can find the established – together with the other subjects such as success, hesitation and continuous improvement. On the Continent of Stability things have established themselves, the world is developed, understood and seemingly stable. Changes to the established are difficult. They start with a long trip on the Ideas Ferry far to the East to the “Continent of Change”. From there, the ideas of change have to be brought on the long Path of Institutionalisation all through the whole world of change, before they arrive at the established.
The Continent of Change is still mostly unexplored and uncomfortable. A street leads from the port in the West past a Volcano of Ideas and the city of Innovation to the Change Base Camp. From Base Camp, courageous pioneers start into the Bleak Forest to bring changes from the Continent of Change over to the Continent of Stability. In the North of the Continent lies Great Regulations City as a kind of Las Vegas, which promises a tantalisingly easy access to the Continent of Stability with a broad motorway into the Bleak Forest and with the Big-Bang Highspeed Ferry. However, whoever follows the motorway will not find his way out of the Bleak Forest anymore, and whoever takes the Highspeed Ferry will sink with it at the Quick-Win Shoals.
The Bleak Forest separates both continents and represents the major hurdle between getting from the new to the established. The Bleak Forest is expansive and dense, very little light penetrates it and fatalism, fear, conceit and waiting-for-something have spread far and wide. A big motorway ring characterises the Bleak Forest, but it only leads in circles and doesn’t really bring you forward – but still, many people drive on this motorway. A direct motorway link to the glittering Great Regulations City heightens this situation further, because this route also doesn’t lead anywhere else but many succumb to the lure of the Great Regulations City. There is only one path which leads through the Bleak Forest, it is barely identifiable and only hashed in: the “Path of Institutionalisation”. It starts at Base Camp of Change, winds its way through the Bleak Forest and ends in the East of the Bleak Forest at Pioneer Settlement.
The region of the city Established
The city “Established” is the center of the Continent of Stability. Its outer suburbs border on to the Bleak Forest, and the outer suburbs and inner suburbs of Established reflect the adopter curve. From the town of “Early Adopters” at the border to the Bleak Forest, you pass through the city suburbs of “Early Majority” and “Late Majority” to the CBD of Established. The city of “Laggards” is a separate entity; the people who live there don’t want any change to the established. The city of Laggards is right next to the town “Failure” further to the North. A one-way street leads from this place into the Bleak Forest, to “Scaredstiff“. The town of “Success” in the South of the city Established forms the counterpart to Failure but from here there is also a one-way street into the Bleak Forest to the town of “Smugton“.
Continuous improvements are necessary to retain the established. That is why it is an important place on the Continent of Stability, in direct proximity of the City “Established”. Continuous improvement is directly linked with the town of “Success” further to the South. Continuous improvement needs an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the established – this is done with assessments, but wishes can also create ideas of change. All these places therefore lie close together in the East of the city Established. It doesn’t matter where the ideas of change come from: they all take the Ideas Ferry to reach the Port of Improvement Suggestions on the Continent of Change.
The city of Established sports a well defined infrastructure. There are schools, measurements, libraries and other things to support the established in the city.
The Region around the Change Base Camp
The Change Base Camp lies next to the Region of Innovation.The Base Camp is the only starting point from which one can successfully bring innovation through the Bleak Forest to the Continent of Stability and to the city of Established. The Base Camp has been set up unobtrusively along the edges of the Bleak Forest and you can only reach it via the town of Great Prioritsburgh (i.e. with prioritized, new ideas which have been test-tried). The Base Camp is very simple, comprises only huts and tents and gives a first impression of the stony path through the Bleak Forest. That is why many people by-pass the Camp and use the road which leads to the big and promising “Great Regulations City” in the North.
At the Base Camp you will find everything you need to establish innovations and take these to Established, i.e. to cross the Bleak Forest. These things include resources, management commitment, involving participants and stakeholders, risk management, planning of measures, iterative procedures, skills as well as measurable goals (see detailed segment on the bottom right of the Map of Change).
From Base Camp the road leads to the town of “Courage” which is the starting point of the beaten track through the Bleak Forest. Anyone starting out on the path through the Bleak Forest first pays a visit to the towns of Compelling Need and Urgency and stocks up supplies in the town of Courage.
The way through the Bleak Forest is made a lot easier by experience and outside support. Many of the huts and resource shops in the Base Camp are operated by people who come from the Continent of Stability and have already traversed the path through the Bleak Forest. Most of the teams who cross the Bleak Forest are usually also supported by experienced escorts. This experience comes to the Base Camp from the support port far down in the South. Most of the experienced escorts bring along not only their own experience but have also visited the “Island of Good Practices”, from where they bring along important tools, documented experience and good practices.
The Region of Great Regulations City
Great Regulations City is big and bright. As a result of its apparent glamour it attracts a lot of people on the Continent of Change. It is powered by energy from the suburbs of Pride and Impatience. Attracted by the glamour of the city, many people come to Great Regulations along a road from the Change Base Camp via the towns of Naivety and Carelessness. The glamour of the city is not real, however, and the shining facades hide the fact that you cannot go anywhere else from this city. Anyone looking closely will see that this city only serves itself and uses up many resources, in particular for the factories in the district of “Futile Industrial Estate”. Here you can find the factory “ Great Regulations”, the “Printers of Unread Reports”, and the “Great Paperwork Factory.” It processes the heavy and unhealthy wood from the Bleak Forest. From Great Regulations City it is not far to the town of “Insanity” where the Continent of Change ends.
Great Regulations City has no path which leads anywhere. The big motorway, which goes right through the city, leads into the Bleak Forest and ends there in a circle. All Big-Bang Highspeed Ferries which leave from the Ivory Tower and circumnavigate the Bleak Forest, sink at the Quick-Win Shoals which lie in front of the Sheercliffs of the Continent of Stability. It is typical for the false glamour of Great Regulations City, that the shining highspeed ferries depart regularly, although they all sink. In Great Regulations City the word is that all ferries arrive and unscrupulous wheelers and dealers earn a lot of money there.
The Bleak Forest
The dark Bleak Forest is characterized by the cities “Fatalism“, “Scaredstiff”,“Smugton” and “Waitingham“. They lie in the center of the Bleak Forest. These cities are linked with each other by a dangerously alluring motorway ring “The Wrong Way.” Anyone caught in this circle will find it most difficult to get out again. Many people therefore disappear in the Bleak Forest, never to be seen again.
But in fact, there is a small and inconspicuous “Path of Institutionalisation“, which leads through the Bleak Forest. It starts at the town of Courage to the West of the Bleak Forest, and leads in many serpentines to Pioneer Settlement in the East of the Bleak Forest. There are several very small towns and inns (e.g. “Senior Management Review” or “Planning Check”), which support the travellers on their path through the Bleak Forest. Despite this, the path is still very difficult to travel on and many people stray from the path without a guide whom they can take along from Change Base Camp – the sinister reputation of the Bleak Forest is simply too mighty.
The Path of Institutionalisation ends in the East of the Bleak Forest in the small town of “Involvement“, which gets its energy supply via the overland line from the city of Established and the city of Leadership. The path then winds through the “Pass of small Improvements” up to “Pioneer Settlement”, the first fortified town at the other end of the Bleak Forest. Here, a road starts again which leads to the town of “Early Adopters”, an outer suburb of the city of Established.
The South of the Continent of Change
There are only a few places in the South of the Continent of Change. Travellers usually reach the Continent via the Port of Improvement Suggestions far to the West. The District of Ideas is located here. From the port, the road leads to the City of Ideas, which is in direct proximity to the Volcano of Ideas. The places “Red Herring” and “Unrealistic Ideas“ represent dead-end roads.
From the District of Ideas, the road continues further East to the District of Innovation. Here lies the city of “Innovation”, close to it you will find the townships of “Improvement“ and “Deterioration” – you can only reach either via “Trial“. Innovations need to be prioritized – this is done in the prioritising plant in the city of „Great Prioritsburgh“. From the townships of Deterioration and Unrealistic Ideas there is a road to the Cemetery of Failed Ideas, all the way in the South.
Management Island
Management works and lives on Management Island in the far North of the Map of Change. Here you can also find Vision, Mission, Strategy and Business Objectives. Management’s connection to the two Continents and the Bleak Forest starts in Management Port.
A ferry line travels to the Continent of Change. From the port town of “Management Expedition” the path leads to Change Vision, to the Change Objectives and finally ends in Management Commitment in the Change Base Camp.
The Reporting Path Ferry is a ferry line – with very regular departure times – which leads to the Continent of Stability, thus providing a connection to the City of “Management”. Management City is directly connected with the city of Established by a motorway and the motorway ends at the Measurements Sector.
A toilsome rowing boat link leads from Management Island to the Path of Institutionalisation in the Bleak Forest. The link – which even needs to be traversed by foot at the end – ends at the small town of “Management Policies”. As this link is laborious, it is rarely used by Management. Without leadership by Management, the travellers on the Path of Institutionalisation cannot continue their journey. It is therefore a frequent occurrence that travellers who bring innovations through the Bleak Forest to the city of Established have to wait for a long time at the town “Management Policies”.
Note: This text is an article which we published on our website in 2013. Since this topic is still in high demand, we republished this article on our blog.
