Summary

Is it that people resist change? That they fear change? Or rather that people fear loss?

As a change management consultant, what is the most difficult or frustrating while supporting clients with change management efforts?

What is one word most alive right now in the world of change management support?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Michael Randel, Founder of Randel Consulting Associates, on mastering the ever-complex world of organizational change management.

Michael's Bio

• Owner of Randel Consulting Associates, a boutique consulting firm that supports change processes across sectors
• Former Change Consultant in the World Bank's Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness department
• Worked for a Danish development agency in South-East Asia
• Started as an  Organizational Development practitioner in South Africa, at the YMCA during the anti-apartheid struggle.

We discuss 

• Michael worked as a young professional in the South African YMCA youth organization during South Africa’s apartheid struggles, which was a formative experience for him. It launched his career in change management
• He consults on change management across the private, public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors. His clients all have in common: a social purpose.
• Early in his career, he discovered that we overestimate rationality in change management; instead, emotion is a significant factor. We also are simply unable to foresee all factors that will be at play in our change-planning efforts
• Michael uses a Gestalt approach in his work: in this approach, the forces that energize change are faced with forces that resist change – and Lewin’s forcefield analysis tends to apply. Put simply: people tolerate the current state of affairs till it is no longer tolerable. 
• The Gestalt approach stipulates that we may need to intervene at the individual, team, unit organization, or sector level (or a combination)
• Michael appreciates Rick Maurer’s framework on resisting change, which emphasizes 3 factors, embodied in ‘I don’t get it’; ‘I don’t like it’; and ‘I don’t like you’. Each requires its response – and the three should not be confused.

Quotes:

Eisenhower’s quote (paraphrased here) is relevant in change management: “Plans are useless, but the process of planning is useful”

Resources:

Michael’s LinkedIn Profile

Randel Consulting Associates Website

Blog post: Resistance to change is often misunderstood

YouTube video of this podcast

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