Abstract
Almost daily, individuals, groups, or organizations declare a fundamental need for change. Whether this change is prompted by stagnant growth or failure to achieve tactical goals and strategic objectives, the underlying theme remains constant: modify outlooks, alter habits, and amend processes to institute change. This paper expands the boundaries of conventional thinking through an overarching description of how revitalization can be applied to organizations; common traits associated with renewal are highlighted as a means to initiate change. This essay defines revitalization ideas and introduces four concepts that can be used as a framework toward revitalization: reinvention, reinvestment, reinvigoration, and reinforcement.
Introduction
“In the coming decades, Mechanicville [NY] will strive to become a vital residential community with an attractive, pedestrian-oriented downtown, healthy neighborhoods, and the high quality municipal infrastructure necessary to sustain the community in the 21st century” (Camoin Associates, 2006, p. 5).
During the past 30 years, many cities such as Cleveland, OH; San Diego, CA; Durham, NC; and Mechanicville, NY embarked upon a journey to create urban centers of renewal. These revitalization initiatives were formed upon the tenets of reinvention, reinvestment, reinvigoration, and reinforcement, where attracting talent and families to their downtown areas served as hallmarks of success. The ability to maintain community pride and celebrate history was equally important as these projects launched. Locally based business partnerships acted as change catalysts, and the partnerships were buoyed by a shared determination to develop and sustain residences, retail services, restaurants, and the arts. Change and change management concepts were keys to accomplishment, but it was an unwavering attitude for revitalization that led the charge. Given these astounding successes, can similar concepts apply to other projects and organizations unassociated with urban renewal?
Change management is a well-studied, well-documented topic. This paper is not a criticism against change management pundits, but rather an endorsement of their techniques with a keen focus on revitalization concepts that are pervasive in their teachings. For example, John Kotter’s renowned series of books on the subject describes an eight-step process where the last step is “making change stick” (Kotter & Rathgeber, 2005, p. 131). This permanence, or in revitalization terms, “reinforcement,” is one of the four essential ingredients in the revitalized change management process. Using urban revitalization as a backdrop, organizations can implement comparable techniques through a philosophy that focuses on reinvention, reinvestment, reinvigoration, and reinforcement.
Reinvention
The term “reinvention” conveys familiar characteristics of creativity, envisioning, imagination, and risk-taking. While some people take the idea to the extreme and completely change every aspect of an organizational culture, reinvention is not an unrestrained overhaul of current processes. Rather, existing resources, tools, and procedures should be used as a foundation upon which change targets materialize through broad, cross-functional organizational assessments that lead to a unifying vision.
Organizational Assessments
Organizational Self-Assessment
Reinvention begins with action. It is easy to conjure up ideas and pontificate over the realm of the possible, but until concrete steps are taken, reinvention lives only in one’s mind. To begin the reinvention process, information must be obtained to base perceptions for organizational change. The city of Pawcatuck, CT, turned to its residents to help develop a plan for revitalizing the Pawcatuck Village Center through a local survey (Yale Urban Design Workshop, Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, & AMS Advisory Services, 2005, p. 117). Similarly, we do not have to look too far for input; the most reliable source of data is employees. An organizational self-assessment is “often used as a diagnostic, or a starting point, for organizations implementing internal change. (Lusthaus, Adrien, Anderson, & Carden, 1999, p. xi). These assessments are typically implemented as surveys that use a combination of Likert scale (quantitative) and free-flow (quantitative) questions. Organizational self-assessment surveys and tools are readily available. However, if one is generated to meet unique needs, then Henderson (2007, para. 4) suggests the following:
- Define the survey’s purpose
- Keep it short and sweet
- Keep it simple
- Keep it specific
- Make it consistent
- Share results
Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholder Analysis is a key element to completing an organizational assessment. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—Fourth Edition (Project Management Institute [PMI], 2008) defines Stakeholder Analysis as a method to systematically collect and assess information from those who have a vested interest in a project (p. 248). The techniques most often used to obtain and analyze this information are surveys, interviews, and stakeholder grids that list the players and their level of influence.
Another useful technique is a stakeholder map: a pictorial representation of all people who have a stake in the project. More than a listing of names, the stakeholder map facilitates a shared understanding of the relationships, hierarchies, and communications among the entities. Exhibit 1 provides an example of a simple stakeholder map for a photo marketing company that specializes in taking, processing, and distributing pictures of high school and university commencement events.
Exhibit 1. Sample stakeholder map
Note that the sizes of the ovals represent the stakeholder influence. In this case, the “purchasing power” is typically from the parents with influences from students and relatives. It is also important to understand secondary relationships and communication channels, as these could be drivers that lead to change. Similar to urban revitalization where partnerships are revered, these maps can be used to recognize and build strategic alliances.
Create the Vision
Define Your Culture
A complete synthesis of the assessment tools shapes the vision for change. It must encapsulate total awareness of broad organizational elements as well as relate to subculture interests to ensure acceptance and durability. Connors and Smith are emphatic about this point: the organizational culture produces the results you are getting (2011, p. 11). The organizational assessments and stakeholder analyses assist in understanding the current climate and provide pointers to focus a vision for change.
It may sound far-fetched, but consider reality television shows where competitors use their natural skills (e.g., cooking, vocal, fashion design) to best their peers. In almost all cases, the judges recognize and reward contestants who are current, relevant, and passionate. These same themes can serve as a starting point for revitalization; city leaders as well as project managers can ask three questions to help hone their thoughts for reinvention (Exhibit 2). The use of the “stoplight” serves as a visual mnemonic that can be exercised during a daily commute to work.
Exhibit 2. Foundational questions for reinvention
Ask the “Why”
When developing a vision for change, incorporating a risk management methodology is paramount. Typically, root cause analysis techniques help identify risks, examine underlying reasons, and develop pre-emptive measures (PMI, 2008, p. 287). Continuously asking the question “why” uncovers the true risk and associated impacts, and in a change management setting, uncovers the rationale for making the transformation. A simple diagram (Exhibit 3) draws a parallel between creating a risk statement and generating a change statement. Both series of statements have an “if…then…” relationship, which assists the derivation of the true risk/change through the series of “why,” questions.
Exhibit 3. Continuously ask “why” to drive risk/change statements
For example, Betty Bock led a revitalization effort for a town square near the University of Alabama Birmingham, Birmingham, AL. The initial vision was to develop a “people place” that attracted families and visitors to sit and enjoy. Bock’s challenge was convincing cynics and skeptics that the project could work. In the end, it was asking the question “why” people would sit there. The answer was somewhat simplistic: “the most recruited business was an ice-cream shop, which would give people a reason to relax on the benches” (Short, 1999, para. 28). For projects, it is often the simple answers to the question “why” that lead to the substantive changes.
Reinvestment
Overwhelmingly, “reinvestment” implies a monetary outlay to achieve an envisioned end state. While it is true that cities or projects must ordinarily make a financial commitment to spawn change, other forms of “reinvestment” are equally important. Time, energy, personal dedication, and employee reinvestment are key essentials toward a revitalized condition. Shaner identifies that many organizations fail at their initial attempts to change the culture because leaders are not vested and do not sustain the energy necessary to stay committed (2010, p. 77). Fiscal reinvestment is easily planned, controlled, and measured and there must be corresponding mechanisms to track the level and commitment of personal investment. Proper planning and execution provide a framework to measure these tenets.
Plan Initiatives
Brainstorming is a widely accepted practice to develop candidate initiatives. To be effective, this process should force the team out of their comfort zone to stretch the organization. However, the risk here is that too many initiatives are created and then accepted; revitalization leaders become paralyzed by the overwhelming number of objectives. Focus on the vision is lost and change projects become abandoned. For urban revitalization, goal-oriented initiatives distinguish themselves by near-term successes with addressable, visible outcomes to residents; consensus and commitment is best achieved when the city defines, plans, tracks, and advertises incremental accomplishments. Organizational revitalization, too, must adopt initiatives with clearly understood, measurable, and time-oriented goals.
Unlike municipal situations, however, organizational revitalization has an additional characteristic to consider: cultural behaviors. To sustain change, creating action plans that focus on organizational behavior helps everyone remain committed to the plan (Shaner, 2010, p. 96). Similar to traditional goals that focus on hard outcomes (e.g., profitability, productivity, defect reduction), documented behavioral initiatives require well-defined, well-structured goals. A significant personal investment is necessary to capture, evaluate, and categorize, and plan for these behavioral changes. Drawing from fundamental truths about leadership, several principles highlighted by Ruggero and Haley serve as a checklist to ensure behavioral factors are considered in planning (2005, pp. 121–123):
- Set the example—people will imitate a leader’s behavior
- Know your people and look out for their welfare—understand what motivates them and is important to them
- Ensure the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished—reward performance that exceeds expectations and correct performance that misses the mark
- Develop a sense of responsibility among your people—challenge people and hold them accountable
Through these leadership traits and documented initiatives that focus on behaviors, employees recognize that leaders are “investing” in their futures and more fully embrace change proposals.
Execute Tasks and Actions
As transformation initiatives migrate into concrete, actionable tasks, progress against predetermined schedules, budgets, and baselines must be closely controlled and monitored. Priorities must also be established and traditional change management techniques used to control the “scope” of the revitalization tasks. Like any project, changes to a revitalization plan must be tightly managed because even minor changes could have significant consequences in terms of cost (Milosevic, Martinelli, & Wadell, 2007, p. 231). Whether for an urban area or a project, if employees, stakeholders, or leaders are constantly modifying the change plan in an undisciplined manner, then the ultimate outcome results in a lack of acceptance of the change being introduced.
During this step, it is also important to continually measure the “change tolerance” of the organization. This concept is similar to risk tolerance, which is the “level of risk an organization is willing to accept to achieve its business objectives…with corporate culture and values being a primary driver behind acceptable tolerance levels” (Milosevic, Martinelli, & Wadell, 2007, p.227). City planners must constantly evaluate how much change is acceptable to communities affected, and likewise, project leaders must determine and manage how much change can be endured by the organization.
Reinvigoration
Reinvigoration is the revitalization tenet that totally manifests itself as an attitude. To be “reinvigorated” implies that the city, organization, or person, rose from a state of anguish, ridicule and despair into a sense of triumph, exhilaration, and achievement. A classic example of this revitalization characteristic is the city of Cleveland, OH. In the 1970s and early 1908s, Cleveland earned the unenviable moniker “Mistake by the Lake” due to a combination of municipal debt, high unemployment, pollution, struggling professional sports teams, and crime (Clayton, n.d., p. 4). However, during the late 1980s, Cleveland reinvigorated itself through business collaborations that attracted arts, established restaurant districts, increased manufacturing, improved sporting venues, and transformed the city from a punch line to one that was emulated for its urban renewal (Clayton, n.d., pp. 8–9). It is a positive outlook that changed Cleveland, and it is the same attitude that can be incorporated into organizations by its most valued resource: employees.
Identify Revitalization Agents
Almost every authority on change management recognizes that change agents, or those that charged with bringing the change to fruition, are a necessity. Leaders often encourage people with the skills and emotional commitment to become involved in the change process. Additional change agent characteristics that are pervasive include people who
- Promote strategy and innovation
- Possess leadership and interpersonal skills
- Maintain focus and commitment
- Have an innate ability to de-clutter communications and remove obstacles
- Persist, persist, and persist some more
There is a tendency to believe that change agents hold senior-level positions. However, all levels within the organization can act as internal and external ambassadors for change. This is where the notion of “revitalization agents” originates. Revitalization Agents not only embody the traditional traits of change agents, but they also feature individual energy, desire, and attitude. They have an unrelenting zeal for life, a perpetual positive outlook in the face of adversity, and a charisma that transcends most people. Their primary role is to promote the change concepts to maximize engagement and acceptance of the anticipated end state. Connors and Smith refer to this as “Levels of Ownership” where at the lowest level people are resistant, with the goal to drive toward a “buy-in and invest” attitude in the change process (2011, pp. 203-205). It cannot be emphasized enough that revitalization agents are the key ingredients for successful organizational change to occur.
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is the fourth element of a revitalization methodology. Organizations must allow time to reflect upon the effects and impact of change to determine if the expected results were achieved. Consider a simple analogy using SillyBandz®, a rubber band made into various shapes and worn as a fashion accessory, typically by school-aged children. Has the proposed change stretched the organization from a known shape (e.g., a SillyBandz zebra) to another known state (e.g., a SillyBandz tiger), or has it returned to its original form after a few months of failed initiatives? Worse yet, have the change processes demanded unobtainable goals or caused mutinous resistance to cause the SillyBandz to break? Our reinforcement strategy emphasizes a mind set to fortify change through focused reassessments.
Institutionalize and Reassess
As mentioned previusly, Kotter and Rathgeber endorse promoting and maintaining the new culture to make sure it succeeds until old traditions can be replaced (2005, p. 131). Conducting periodic stakeholder surveys and encouraging ongoing progress reporting at pre-determined intervals provides a means to assess organizational change endurance. During these encounters, it is critical to highlight successes and advertise future milestones to continue to promote the change. It is equally important to discuss collateral impacts and unintended consequences, whether these are positive or negative. Cities engaged in urban renewal must confront this regularly as monetary commitments to revitalization initiatives are constantly challenged; municipal budgets and reshuffled priorities are always on the city agenda. However, revitalization agents who promote a sound plan and emphasize successes can overcome these obstacles. It is through steadfast persistence that changes become institutionalized.
Southwest Airlines CEO, Gary Kelly, describes a concept to “manage permanence”. He concludes that business experts describe managing change, but it is equally important to know what not to change and methods to prevent unwanted change from occurring (Southwest Airlines, 2011, para. 38). At first, this appears contradictory to the thesis presented here on revitalization. However, after further reflection, this statement is an endorsement of the reinforcement concept. If the organizational changes implemented are accepted and recognizable by stakeholders, meet strategic objectives, and align with the core values and culture envisioned by leaders, then leaders need to ensure that these concepts are reinforced and impervious to change until such a time warrants action.
Create a Revitalization Plan
Reinvention, reinvestment, reinvigoration, and reinforcement methods are wasteful if project plans are not formulated; as with any sound project, meticulous planning is the key to success. Defining the purpose, documenting actions needed to obtain objectives, naming resources, and identifying potential risks provide initial planning guidance.
In keeping with the urban renewal theme, one area of New York City completely epitomizes the revitalization model: Times Square. In the 1970s and 1980s, Times Square was plagued with lurid businesses and crime that mandated revitalization plans if the area was to regain its prominence as a tourist destination (Makagon, 2004, p. 44). Through business partnerships, crime reduction efforts, sweeping regulations, and an infusion of arts and restaurants, Times Square has again become one of New York City’s crown jewels. It is easy to be swept away in the euphoria of Times Square: the fast-paced crowds, the bright marquees, the cacophony of sound, and the multifunctional environment that uniquely blends business, arts, retail, and residences. Times Square is an incomparable allegory for revitalization, and it serves as the backdrop for a revitalization plan template.
The “Times Square” Plan
To facilitate developing a revitalization plan, a template has been created to help formulate and document initial ideas. Exhibit 4 illustrates the template and provides symbols for distinctive Times Square elements:
- Purpose: At the top of the diagram, this represents the Times Square Ball that is lowered each year to mark the start of a new year. Revitalization plans have an overarching theme of renewal similar to the significance of a new year. Resolutions, or revitalization purposes, become the driving declarations that set the stage for the plan and are periodically measured.
- Initiatives: This block symbolizes the concrete items in the Times Square district, such as buildings, theaters, and restaurants. Similarly, initiatives must be tangible, visible, and well understood in order to achieve buy-in and investment.
- People: The throng of visitors who flock to this area each year is astounding. The challenge becomes identifying those revitalization agents from the masses. This block provides an area to list those people who share revitalization traits and will be key instruments of change.
- Messaging: Times Square is infamous for is brightly lit marquees, all of which have focused messages to attract and inform visitors. Similarly, the messaging block offers space to document how the revitalization plan is to be conveyed, how often it is revisited, and key successes anticipated.
- Risks: Even though Times Square has become a safe tourist destination, unforeseen risks still exist due to traffic conditions, construction efforts, and petty crime. A comprehensive revitalization plan, too, must identify an initial set of risks to the change management project.
Exhibit 4. Times Square revitalization template
Even though the template is simplistic in nature, the very name and associated symbols provide the desired connotation for a revivalist mind-set when developing change management objectives.
A New Era of Revitalization
Traditionally, urban revitalization has focused upon downtown centers to attract businesses, residents, and visitors. Now, a new paradigm is evolving where cities are building toward “aerotropolises” as a means to “cohesively and systematically develop bountiful land near airports to attract office space, warehouses, logistics centers, recreational facilities, and apartments” (Yu, 2011, pp. 1B-2B). These centers build upon the same tenets of revitalization, but they have expanded their frame of reference by putting transportation at the heart of the plan.
Similarly, organizations need to constantly evolve and innovate as new technologies and methods for social interactions are introduced into the workforce; targets for organizational change management must be expanded to keep pace with next-generation tools, processes, and behaviors.
Summary
Revitalization is as much a model as it is an attitude. Reinvention, reinvestment, reinvigoration, and reinforcement techniques augment and enhance traditional change management practices to provide team with renewed energy, focus, commitment, and relationships. Drawing upon historical achievements and evolving philosophies used for urban revitalization around the world, project managers can adopt similar tools and techniques to influence organizational change.