It seems more than appropriate that after the recent landmark presidential election, we talk about the significance of successfully managing a campaign of change. The night of Tuesday, November 4, 2008, was a symphony of historical upsets aka failed change initiatives. Both parties experienced this phenomenon to greater and lesser degrees throughout the many months of campaigning.
For the purposes of this blog, the primary focus will be on the consistent execution of successful change strategy of the 2009 President-elect, Barack Obama. Especially given that the odds, according to political pundits, were stacked against this particular outcome.
The latest statistics on change management continue to point definitively to the fact that more than 60% of change initiatives fail. IBM’s most recent global study on change management anchors and reinforces the point that people, not technology, are the most critical success factor in making change work.
Regardless of what side of the aisle you may be on, the election night marked two major milestones:
1. Significant cultural change
2. Successful execution of change management strategy
Since most organizations tend to get A’s in strategy and F’s in execution, how did the Obama campaign pull this off?
There are many change methodologies advocated by experts, but the one we have found in our practice to be most effective is attributed to John Kotter and revolves around 8 basic steps. It is the mastery of these 8 steps that facilitated the victory of the Obama campaign.
Let’s take a look at these steps one at a time.
1. Establish a Sense of Urgency - The Obama campaign cannot take full credit for establishing the sense of urgency given the U.S. backdrop of 2 wars being waged, the health insurance crisis, the economic meltdown, and the crisis of education, however they were able to leverage that reality by creating a powerful value proposition that reinforced the fact that we could no longer wait for things to happen. It was time to make things happen.
2. Create a Guiding Coalition - Republicans, Democrats and Independents all acknowledge that the Obama campaign did what others had never done quite as well and that was organize and galvanize a grass roots base that effectively sustained the sense of urgency and helped orchestrate the rest of the change process based on Obama’s vision. This particular guiding coalition included many young people who, up until his candidacy, had been passively engaged in previous political processes.
3. Develop a Vision & Strategy - President-elect Obama was able to paint a powerful picture of what the future could be if everyone worked together to achieve it. His messaging consistently focused on the power and potential of ‘We’.
4. Communicate the Vision - This was brought to life in the major message of the campaign, “Yes, We Can.” It was effectively used as both a rallying cry and a point of focus. There is and always will be tremendous elegance in simplicity.
5. Empower Broad Based Action - The coordination of the various campaign offices and activities across the country in reaching out and spreading the message was phenomenal. Campaigners went door-to-door, set up social networking sites online, set up campaign quarters in private homes and established virtual interest groups on the internet.
6. Accomplish Quick Wins- There were a number of things that happened early on that helped establish significant forward progress. While the list could go on and on, there are few things that are particularly noteworthy. An early endorsement from Oprah Winfrey, help launch the declaration of candidacy. As it turns out, an endorsement from Oprah doesn’t just drive books to the top of the best-seller list.
7. Leverage Gains to Accelerate Momentum – Statements of support from a few generations of Kennedy’s helped bring an additional level of credibility and confidence in the possibility of real change. Senator Ted Kennedy, in particular, left his home after recovering from brain surgery , against doctors orders, to speak at the Democratic National Convention in favor of an Obama candidacy.
8. Anchor New Approaches to Change Culture – Throughout this entire campaign process, the Obama campaign team has been supremely adept at balancing high tech and high touch better than any candidate to date and possibly years to come. President-elect Obama actually sat down with his Republican rival, John McCain in order to identify opportunities to work together.
These steps, taken together, triggered a profound sea change, marked a new page in history and choreographed a tightly coordinated cadence of millions of people which dictated the successful outcome.
Seeing ChangeWork is music to my ears. Play it again, Sam!
