Running Head: CHANGE CATALYST 1

Agent of Change

John Dandoy

LRDS: 595

Azusa Pacific University

September 15, 2017

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Evidence of knowledge acquisition

There is only one constant in todays world; everything is changing. The only caveat to

that notion is that the speed of change continues to accelerate. According to Cameron and Quinn

(2001) the only thing more frightening that change is staying the same. The communication of

the need for change or even the communication of the change effort itself is not enough to make

progress. The individuals in the organization must make personal changes if the change effort is

to be successful (Quinn, 1996, p. 6).

Every organization at every point in time is in a state of change. They are growing or they

are stagnating. An effective change catalyst is able to identify the state of the organization,

diagnose the existing culture, assess the behavioral tendencies of the organization, and put in

place measures for a successful change operation. In short, a change catalyst must go beyond the

commitment of the individuals in the organization, and inspire them to make personal

adjustments to their behaviors.

A change catalyst, like any other leader must be self-aware. They must know their

leadership role, and how they function in the organization. They must be evaluating the impact

of their actions on the organization and its individual members. They must be constantly

evaluating and reevaluating themselves in order to develop new and fresh perspective for the

benefit of the organization (Quinn, 1996, p.139).

A change catalyst is able to effectively implement the eight-stage change process as

outlined by Kotter (2012). The effective change catalyst creates a sense of urgency for all

member of the organization. Build a coalition of influential members of the organization who

can not only encourage the change efforts but who can work together as a team and lead by

example. The change catalyst, with input from the coalition, creates a vision for the future that is
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exciting and inspiring for every member of the organization. This vision must be communicated

through a variety of media to insure that the vision is clear and communicated in a way that is a

accessible and effective for each follower. Next, the change catalyst asks for feedback from each

group in the organization targeted toward finding and eliminating inefficiencies and barriers to

productivity. In this phase of the change process individuals are encouraged to offer out of the

box ideas and solutions to problems that the organization is facing. Once the solutions and

necessary changes are identified they are broken into small actionable short items with short and

medium term timelines. When these items are accomplished the organization celebrates the

short-term victories. Next, the change catalyst moves forward to consolidate progress by

promoting and developing people who can impalement the change efforts, and reinvigorate the

change efforts with new and meaningful themes. Lastly, the change catalyst reinforces the

change effort and establishes a succession plan.

Interpretation of knowledge

When I began to study leadership, and considered change, I think I had a real

misunderstanding of the challenges that face leaders who are implementing change efforts. I was

under the impression that there was an individual who made the decision, gave the directive, and

others completed the tasks. For the followers this is a relatively powerless point of view. Further,

I had not really considered a structural change for an organization.

Now I see that individuals are the key component in any change effort. You must create

buy-in and commitment from every member at every level in order to effectively implement a

change effort. To begin this process I now see the value of the Organizational Culture

Assessment Instrument to determine the nature of the existing cultural climate and areas for

adjustment to meet the demands of what is to come. I see the value in understanding the leaders
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emotional intelligence so that there can be meaningful bonding between every member of the

organization through the creation of psychological safety. Lastly, I have come to appreciate

Kotters (2012) eight-step change process for as Kotter (2012) acknowledged the process creates,

power and motivation sufficient to overwhelm all sources of inertia (p.22).

Application of knowledge

Academic

As for academic evidence of change catalyst experience, I participate in a group project

where we acted as consultants for a foreign national non-profit corporation. We discussed with

the CEO what the organizational challenges were. He expressed that he was in need of clearer

messaging and additional funding. We then created a mission statement for him, set up a social

media campaign, set up email and direct mail solicitation letters, and assisted with his staffing

concerns by creating an intern application. The artifacts are attached to this paper.

Professional

After having had the opportunity to study change models and academic research on

effective and ineffective change processes it is clear to me that there is a general

misunderstanding of change efforts. After reading Quinn and Kotter, I have started implementing

a change effort in my firm. In our staff meetings we now discuss what each person enjoys most

about their work, what is the most challenging piece of their professional effort at that time,

where are the barriers and breakdowns, and what out of the box ideas can we implement to solve

those challenges. Within one meeting we were able to implement two very basic changes to our

file opening process based on the feedback from my transaction manager, which cut down the

processing delays by more than forty-five minutes per transaction. The key to this success was
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the expressing the need for change, creating engagement with the members of the organization,

and asking for solutions that were unconventional.

Creation of new knowledge

Personal

No later than the end of the fourth quarter I will select, and if possible register for, a

minimum of one educational opportunity each quarter of the following year. These opportunities

may include: a C-Level speakers series, online or in person classes, or certificate programs.

Professional

I will take the Connective Leadership Achieving Styles Assessment to my office. I will

then have each person to complete their assessment, and have them select 3 other professionals

to complete the assessment on their behalf no later than February 1, 2018. We will then have a

office retreat to assess the preferred style for each member and create a plan for individual

development in the areas where there is desired improvement.

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References

Cameron, K.S., & Quinn, R.E. (2012). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based
on the competing values framework. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Kotter, J.P. (2012). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business review Press.

Quinn, R. E. (1996). Deep change: Discovering the leader within. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.