Success Factor: Change Management

Foreword by Gerald Steiner

What makes the difference between being a highly ranked Fortune 500 company and bankruptcy? The over-simplified answer might be: time. Approximately 9 out of 10 Fortune 500 companies in 1955 are history today, as they either went bankrupt, merged, or, based on their gross revenue, are no longer part of the Fortune 500 companies. But is there a rational explanation for the sudden failure of previously highly successful and innovative companies? A substantial argument is provided by J.A. Schumpeter's "creative destruction," which argues that the "process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one." Yet why should a company or any individual leave a successful path that has provided huge successes up until then? Indeed, why should, or would, one exchange a (thus far) 'golden path' for unknown territory full of uncertainty, risk, and question marks? And in fact, there are countless previously leading-edge enterprises that did not exchange, but instead remained on their former 'golden path,' e.g., IBM, Xerox, Olivetti, or, more currently, RadioShack, Aeropostale, Sears, Lululemon, DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, Hillshire Brands, Alaska Air, Russell Stover, Shutterfly, Blackberry - and the list could go on and on. They all have one thing in common: today, either they are history or, at minimum, have encountered significant losses to their previous market positions and might become part of a future merger. By contrast, for those who aim to actively pursue innovation-driven change and are looking for powerful supportive tools and processes, 'Success Factor: Change Management' is a must-read for guiding their thinking and actions.

To survive and succeed in today's competitive business world, dealing with change is not a choice, but a necessity. Today's complexity, in conjunction with the increasing interrelatedness, globalization, and faster patterns of change over time, requires change managers to develop viable systems (e.g., teams, departments, organizations, networks, but also national and international communities), which are ultimately capable of dealing with unforeseeable events and the tremendous dynamics of today's society. To understand these complex systems and environments, and the capability of creatively and collaboratively developing comprehensive innovations (i.e. systems innovation) are crucial for successfully dealing with this highly uncertain future. Consequently, successful change management approaches the need to base oneself on comprehensive systems perspectives, appropriate process design and reliable methods; in addition, they almost always must rely on new or adapted role profiles with new competence requirements as part of comprehensive learning systems. Changing behavior is probably the biggest challenge of all; hence, changing roles and developing appropriate competence portfolios is particularly important, both for today's change management, but also for successfully dealing with current and future challenges. These challenges apply not only to business and industry, but to all parts of society (e.g., international economic crises, food crises, the future of Greece, or the Ukrainian crisis), making appropriate forms of learning, education, and training for dealing with highly complex multi-level innovation systems crucial. They call for disciplinary knowledge, but increasingly also for collaborative learning capabilities as prerequisites for inter- and transdisciplinary ways of dealing with societal challenges. Hence, disciplinary excellence is not to be replaced, but rather, to be extended by creative, systemic, and collaborative competences which enable cross-boundary knowledge integration. In this context, the role of universities needs to be re-invented as well, particularly with respect to science-society collaborations as a means of coping with complex real-world challenges. Czichos's book considers change management in its crucial interplay with innovation and project management, and provides precisely the kind of process and method based guidance which is needed in order to exactly meet all the demands just discussed.

Thoughts and questions like the ones above have accompanied my entire professional life: initially as an engineer, later as a student, and then as professor dealing with business and innovation studies, including being Schumpeter Professor at Harvard University. Even early on, as junior researcher at the University of Graz and Joanneum Research Society (both in Austria) and independent innovation consultant focusing on product-, process-, and system development for industry, governments, and the non-profit sector, I missed something fundamental in the academic world with regard to the collaborative creative and systemic capabilities necessary for successfully dealing with change by developing innovation: My own experiences were based both on academics, but first and foremost also on method-guided processes which could be easily applied to real world challenges, yet little precedence existed that took both of these aspects into account. As I was looking for someone likeminded, I came across the book 'Kreaktivität und Chaosmanagement' (in English 'Creactivity and Chaos Management') by Reiner Czichos. When I read the word 'Creactivity' I initially thought it was misspelled, until I found out that this wording was chosen deliberately! I read the book, which addressed exactly those issues that I had missed so much in most prior literature: method-guided processes which were described in clear language and based on an immense diversity of underlying cases and success stories from Czichos' own repertoire. I became increasingly curious, bought his other books, experienced how perfectly this approach fit into my own philosophy, and felt that a direct contact with the person who wrote these books would not only be beneficial for my own work, but could in itself be an interesting adventure. Hence, I contacted the publisher, got Reiner's telephone number, called him, and we met in Munich the day after. This was the start of a great journey that has lasted for more than one and a half decades now, and which gave me access to a large number of tools that I could integrate into my own innovation endeavors. The meeting stimulated joint 'creactivity sessions' and professional benefit, yet most importantly, gave me the gift of Reiner's friendship.

Reiner Czichos is probably one of the most successful practitioners in the European change business and he is an exhibitionist. Why is this important to mention? Successful people usually share their general frameworks or segments of their knowledge, but most of the time they are not willing to reveal the full recipe behind their success. Czichos is different: he exposes his stories and himself, he wants to share his experiences, not only as a rough story, but by outlining the processes and tools which he has applied in hundreds and thousands of change management projects. In telling these stories he does not confuse his audience with academic terminology, but he shows that he is a master in outlining complex issues in the simplest, clearest, and purposeful way possible.

Different from many other books in the change management field, in the case of 'Success Factor: Change Management' (which recently appeared in English as well), every chapter seems to be equally attractive. Based on a process- and method guided perspective, Reiner Czichos provides a storyline and a sound foundation when he guides the reader from chapter to chapter; each one with its own purpose and attraction. As one of the first authors in the German speaking management literature, he published his first change management book back in 1990. Built on nearly 40 years of experience in the field of change management as coach, consultant, trainer, moderator, and organizational developer, in his book 'Success Factor: Change Management' Czichos first provides a conceptual framework for the core mechanisms of change, which helps one comprehend how change processes can be supported by means of project management in order to generate innovation at various levels and dimensions of the organization. He shares a lot of experience that he gained from innumerable change management projects and which he translates into helpful checklists, which will be most welcome for an audience with typically limited time resources. An important characteristic of the book is that Czichos not only differentiates between the various personal characteristics of individuals and teams involved in the change process, but also introduces with the LIFO® Method a powerful tool which makes various thinking and communication styles visible and helps develop successful strategies for their involvement.

This book is a gift for everyone involved in change, no matter if you are in business, non-profit or international organizations, or if you are dealing with changes in your personal life. The insights and tools offered can easily become powerful companions for better understanding the systems of change (e.g., your department or organization), the peculiarities and orientations of the people involved, and the dynamics of the road leading to a successful future. The deeper you get into the secrets of Reiner Czichos and his real-life stories, the more you will feel that - instead of being only a helpless little vessel exposed to the stormy sea of change - mastery of change is possible. If your intention is to successfully lead a change process, this book will be your most valued companion throughout the change...