Don't over-egg senior management role in successful change

May 17, 2011 - PRLog -- Organisations should not overestimate the ability of senior managers to influence – that is if they want to implement major business change successfully.

That is the contention of Dr Leandro Herrero, pioneer of the concept of Viral Change and the author of the recently published Homo Imitans, who spoke at the Institute of Internal Communication’s annual conference in Bournemouth on 13th May.

He commented: “The senior management role model is completely overestimated. These people have lots of power but we know very well that peer-to-peer influence is more powerful when it comes to getting things done.”

Dr Herrero focused on the value of making use of the strong human tendency to copy others with whom they identify. A powerful form of ‘social infection’ is created by identifying a small group of influential, trusted individuals with strong networks within the organisation to act as advocates and activitists for new behaviours. Typically, these employees are not high up within the formal hierarchy.

However, he also warns against having change champions who actually do nothing. “I don’t want ambassadors, I want activists,” he said.

He believes that the world of formal communication (World I) and the world of behaviours (World II) are separate, and that management needs to have a better understanding of this.

Herrero sees World I as a push world that loves hierarchy and is focused on cascading down facts and information. A major strength of formal communication programmes is in supporting the social infection process by raising awareness and understanding, and helping to spread success stories to provide positive reinforcement.

Meanwhile, he sees World II as “ a pull regime with unwritten rules. You do what everyone else is doing. It’s like a mountain fire – you don’t know how it started, but all you know is that the whole mountain is on fire.

“You cannot change behaviours by dropping information on people. Behaviours don’t like PowerPoint. Change is not measured by the number of workshops you hold.”

His final tips for success included:
•   Provide constant social proof of small progress with lots of storytelling
•   Promote the positive, don’t highlight the negative
•   Tell people about the advances, not the problem
•   Talk less and do more – for every push, have a pull ready
•   Think twice before you spend your budget on the push
•   Become an activist
•   De-clutter, detox, simplify channels.

Further information on Dr Herrero’s books is available at www.meetingminds.com. Background on viral change is available at www.viralchange.com

Further information about presentations at the Institute of Internal Communication's annual conference in Bournemouth 11th-13th May is available at www.ioic.org.uk

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The Institute of Internal Communication is the UK professional body for internal communication professionals. It offers professional development, promotes the importance of internal communications, develops industry knowledge, provides a strong network.