Leading Through Change

Many have said that “change is the only constant.” Organizations and the individuals that comprise them are not immune to change. In fact, the leadership context for many (if not most) leaders often includes a healthy amount of change. Leaders need to understand their leadership system context so that they lead appropriately. The product development context experiences constant change in at least three ways. First, product development organizations regularly need to change organizational structures and improve the current ways of working. Second, product development organizations need to keep up with a rapidly changing technology landscape, e.g., moving software solutions from onsite and local datacenters to a cloud-based computing platform or change their offerings (and supporting systems) to remain competitive in the marketplace. For example, many brick-and-mortar retailers have responded to the rise of e-commerce by creating an online presence as buyer preferences shifted from physically visiting a store to buy goods to sitting at the computer and ordering new merchandise. Lastly, businesses often need to reinvent themselves and develop new business strategies that require adopting new values, attitudes, and norms. These changes are developmental (minor improvement), transitional (major improvement), and transformational (radical improvement). Organizations usually have all three forms of change occurring at the same time. The outcome of an effective leadership process is successful developmental, transitional, and transformational change.