The Change Manager as Gardener: Leveraging the Four Force Framework
(8:30-10:30 - bring your own coffee/tea and snacks).
The management guru, Peter Drucker, famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Evidence bears this out. According to a recent study by the consulting firm BCG, 75% of transformation efforts don’t deliver the hoped-for results. And a 2018 Corporate Longevity Forecast conducted by Innosight showed that the length of time S&P 500 companies stayed on the list had shrunk from 33 years in 1964 to 24 by 2016, likely dropping to 12 years in 2027.
Given the outsize role of culture, how can change managers harness it to drive successful change? In this interactive session, participants will delve beneath the surface of culture by examining the four forces framework of cultural change. We will explore how the four cultural forces—habit, vision, interest, and innovation—act as drivers of change, and how they interact to either support or impede change efforts. Using case studies, we will then apply the four forces framework in practice, and reflect on how we might incorporate it into our change management toolkits.
A broader aim of the workshop is to develop the metaphor of the change manager as a gardener. As a gardener, the change manager must adapt to changing conditions, keeping an eye on the future, nurturing employee needs for growth, cultivating productive habits, and using a healthy dose of sunlight to spur innovation.
Suggested Pre-Work: Journal of Business Anthropology article by Matthew J Hill and Mario Moussa, Organizing Cultural Change: Leveraging the Four Forces Framework. (Dec. 15, 2022)
Matthew J. Hill, PhD 
Matthew J. Hill, Principal of Matthew J Hill Consulting, is a well-published academic, experienced business anthropologist, and executive consultant.
He advises senior leaders on a wide range of issues. Areas include organizing change campaigns, improving operational processes, developing impactful strategies, and building high performing teams.
Matthew employs cutting-edge ethnographic research methods and participant observation to help leaders gain deeper insights into their organization’s cultural dynamics. He taps into people’s interests and passions, harnessing them to drive successful organizational campaigns. An expert in cultural change initiatives, Matthew also facilitates Action Learning Projects where teams collectively research troublesome operational processes, identify the underlying causes and generate solutions to solve them.
Matthew has published widely on business and organizational issues in leading business journals and executive forums. Recent articles include Organizing Cultural Change: Leveraging the Four Forces Framework in the Journal of Business Anthropology and Pathways to Digital Transformation CU Management, and an article on cooperative entrepreneurship for the Kauffmann Foundation.
Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjhillphd/
NOTE 1: The Change SIG is now SEARCHING for several Zoom-comfortable
people to produce our programs on a ROTATING BASIS.
NEWS: Only to-do's for each Change SIG NOW are Tech Check & Zoom Host
-- Do a 45-minute Tech Check 4th (or 5th) Monday or Tuesday, with speaker(s) & Mary Charles
-- Handle 4th (or 5th) Friday Zoom details, 8:00 -10:45 AM Eastern
Many thanks to DEBBIE MORRIS who will be our February 24th Zoom Host!
NOTE 2: Do you have an idea to polish or a presentation to try out? The Change SIG is looking for 2023 speakers (March, June-October).
For more information, contact SIG leaders, Mary Charles Blakebrough (919-656-9573) or Vickie Bevenour.
