Change Management Toolkit

CHANGE MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT

Circling the Pyramid

Building Lasting Commitment to Change

Circling the Pyramid

In any change initiative, the overarching

objective is to drive the lasting adoption of new

behaviors and attitudes within the organization.

The challenge can be framed through a series of

questions: What is the best strategy to build

commitment to the change? How do you

monitor the level of allegiance? What is the

difference between mere compliance and full

internalization? We have developed a model to

help address these issues. Although simple in its

form and application, it has proven effective in a

multitude of change situations.

The Pyramid of Change

Commitment

As illustrated in Figure 1, the core of the model

is a pyramid projected from above. The corners

at the base of the structure correspond to specific

states of mind among the people in the

organization:

1. Persuaded: when people understand and

agree with the rationale for the change;

when they come to realize the status quo

cannot be sustained.

2. Excited: when the change truly resonates

with the interests, values and beliefs of the

people in the organization.

3. Confident: when people have confidence in

the ability of the organization to navigate the

change journey; when they believe the

leadership has the resolve to see the change

through.

4. Able: when people feel they possess the

skills required to display the new behaviors

and succeed in the new environment.

The tip of the pyramid represents the end-point,

i.e. when people adopt fresh attitudes and

behaviors.

Circling the Pyramid

The four states of mind constitute the critical

ingredients to producing lasting commitment to

change. To illustrate why, let’s consider a few

examples.

A service organization decided to redesign its

core business processes. The objectives were to

increase efficiencies, improve customer service

and capitalize on new strategic opportunities.

The corporate leaders did an outstanding job

articulating the case for the change, thus

persuading the leadership teams in the various

business units. Because the company had a very

strong customer-service culture, the initiative

resonated with everyone’s beliefs and a general

sense of excitement quickly developed. Nevertheless,

resistance surfaced shortly after the

transition plans were communicated. The

general managers of the business units were

leading the rebellion. They had come to realize a

significant portion of the implementation costs

would affect their profit & loss for the current

year. It was bad news for their bonus. Their

initial excitement quickly collapsed, replaced

with anger and resentment.

In a professional services firm, line

management and the finance department

had been complaining for years about the

accounting software. When the company

finally decided to replace the technology,

the finance group welcomed the news with

genuine excitement. It was a case of

preaching to the convinced (persuaded).

They had confidence in the technical

abilities of their I.T. colleagues. Yet, the

rollout of the project didn’t go smoothly.

Persuaded Excited

Able Confident

Points of Entry

1- Win the Brains

2- Win the Hearts

3- Build Confidence

4- Provide Training

5- Coerce or

Make a Try-Out Deal

1 2

5

FIGURE 1 – The Pyramid of Change Commitment

4 3 New Behaviors

&

Attitudes

CHANGE MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT ! Circling the Pyramid

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