Change Simulation Experience

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.”
- Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking theory of evolution was certainly not restricted to species in the wild. Adapting to change in any corporate environment is fundamental to the success of any organization and its employees. Achieving this success depends on a key ingredient – appropriate application of change management that focuses on increasing levels of commitment to change and decreasing levels of resistance.
Our group perceived the ‘Global Tech Change Simulation’ to be reflective of real life organizational change as it recreated a business scenario that needed to follow a multi-step process in a timely and sequential manner in order to have a successful outcome. There are challenging barriers to change which include acceptance, adaption and resistance, and each obstacle requires the use of change leadership and best practices to guide an organization through such a transition.
Our Approach: What Worked

Our group was aware of how essential it was to follow the seven-step Experience Change Model and categorized each tactic according to our analysis of where it belonged within the model – see Appendix A. We started our simulation with balanced participation through stakeholder mapping to ensure that key stakeholders in all departments understood the need for change. Stakeholder mapping allowed us to identify change agents who helped build an interdepartmental coalition that had enough power and influence to successfully lead change efforts. It also branded helpers, bystanders and resisters, which meant we could classify targeted communication tactics for each group.
Before creating a vision and strategy, we set up interdepartmental meetings that included all department heads. This