Navigating the Orange Barrels:
Change Has Become Part of Our Culture

“A problem well stated is a problem half solved” – Charles F. Kettering

Kettering Health Network’s namesake who is quoted above left us a legacy – he looked at the world around him and asked, “How can I make this better?” Then, he answered his own question with amazing inventions such as the incubator for premature infants, the V-8 engine and the automobile self-starter, to name a few. For these inventions to be successfully used long term, people in America had to embrace widespread change.

If you take a look around several Kettering Health Network medical centers, you will see one thing they have in common – change.

• Work on the Symphony Project continues, with the first go-lives for the Epic electronic health information system at the physician practice, Greystone Family Medicine, on October 19; at Sycamore and Kettering Behavioral Medicine Center on November 7; and at Sycamore Primary Care Center on November 8.
• At Grandview, the “New View” Project is in full gear to build a new “West Wing,” the first major renovation/construction project there in 25 years.
• The Indu and Raj Soin Medical Center in Beavercreek is well underway, with a projected completion date of early 2012.
• The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Heart Hospital opens October 4 and will feature comprehensive cardiac care on three floors as well as the Mother/Baby Unit on the fourth floor and the Kettering Joint Center on the fifth floor.
• Fort Hamilton Hospital in Hamilton recently joined the Network, making them our seventh member hospital.

Eight-Stage Change Management Model
John Kotter’s Eight-Stage Change Model includes moving through change with a primary focus on taking actions that change behavior and inspire people to embrace the change vision. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter as relating to people’s response and approach to change, in which they see, feel, and then make the change. The stages are as follows:

• Increase urgency – inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.
• Build the guiding team – get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment and the right mix of skills and levels.
• Get the vision right – get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy; focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.
• Communicate for buy-in – involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials simply, and to appeal and respond to people's needs. De-clutter communications - make technology work for you rather than against.
• Empower action – remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognize progress and achievements.
• Create short-term wins – set aims that are easy to achieve in bite-size chunks. Have manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones.
• Don't let up – foster and encourage determination and persistence – ongoing change – encourage ongoing progress reporting – highlight achieved and future milestones.
• Make change stick – reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion and new change leaders. Weave change into culture.

References
Employees are encouraged to read these books that support the change transition process.

• “Leading Change” by John P. Kotter
• “Our Iceberg Is Melting” by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber
• “The Heart of Change” by John Kotter and Dan S. Cohen

Three-Phase Transition Change Management Model
William Bridges’ Transition Model focuses on the mental and emotional transformation that people must undergo to relinquish old arrangements and embrace new ones. He proposes transition as having three phases:

• Ending, Losing, Letting go
• The Neutral Zone
• The New Beginning

How Does It Work?
The psychological transition starts with the ending which needs to be acknowledged as a natural grieving process we experience. People need to come to terms with their own personal endings when change occurs. Bridges emphasizes that change can have a healthy outcome when losses and endings are dealt with openly and directly.

References
Employees are encouraged to read these books by William Bridges that support the change transition process.

• “Transitions”
• “Managing Transitions”
• “The Character of Organizations”

Want More?
A change management class called “Navigating the Orange Barrels” and lead by CJ, Cathy and Dave is available for leaders and any other team members they suggest. To learn more and sign up, visit the KHN intranet http://intranet.ketthealth.com/KH/ and click on “Leadership Institute.”

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