Communicating Change to the Whole Brain?
It Takes A Whole Lot of Effort!

Why is this important? Given the fact that to effectively communicate change is critical to success, it seems obvious. Experience indicates the significance. A recent example illustrates this point. A large scale and complex change recently received an enthusiastic and widespread announcement. Little or no information about the rationale or the process for change followed. Weeks passed. Employees and even change leaders expressed confusion, anxiety, frustration and apathy for the change. Questions arose about the important of the change and the process for it. As this occurred, questions about the process for change resulted in increased rumors and doubt about the ability of leaders to lead the change. Ultimately, these questions could have led to doubt about the reasoning and/or the rationale for the change. The longer this persists, the stronger the doubt, and the more resistance to the change may develop. Fortunately, change leaders were guided through an intervention and actions were taken to address the potential disaster using the following model.

The whole brain thinking work of Ned Herrmann (The Whole Brain Business Book, 1996, McGraw-Hill) provides a helpful approach for communicating in times of change. Considering that nearly all people have a thinking preference that includes a strong desire to learn the rationale and the process of any change, we can use the Herrmann model to assist in the development of change-related communication plans. The Herrmann Brain Dominance Inventory (HBDI) is designed to inventory personal thinking styles dominance or preference related to four categories. These are related to the following questions: 1) Rationale (what?); 2) Safekeeping (how?, when?, where?); 3) Interpersonal (who?); and, 4) Experimental (why?). Figure A illustrates this framework.

In Figure A, each of three figures illustrates the progression of focus from the individual to the team to the organization to the market place or environment of the change. The first section relates to the rationale (the why?). We know from the Herrmann Whole Brain Model that about 25 percent of the population prefer to start with this frame of reasoning. The second object relates to the process change and addresses the how?, when?, where?, and who?. Again, from the Herrmann Model we know that approximately 50 percent of the population prefer to start with this frame of reasoning. And, the final section is the results. This is the question about what? will be the result and what is expected. This is the dominant thinking preference of about 25 percent of the population. Again, a key point is to keep in mind that communication about change needs to focus first on the individual and must be done from the individuals frame of reference-the questions they are interested in knowing about.

By using this approach, change leaders can keep communication efforts focused, relevant and meaningful to those required to change as well as lead the effort. By doing so, communication efforts can be improved, thus allowing the likelihood of achieving desired results to be enhanced. It is essential that these messages are shared repetitively and in various formats to appeal to the thinking styles and interests of everyone involved in the change.

It is through our conversations that we are able to promote and inspire action. Actions lead to some result. Therefore, it is important for conversations about change to be focused on the right topics with the listening (responder) in mind. The conversations we have drive the actions we take that lead to the results we achieve.

© 1999, Lawton Associates • All Rights Reserved