Our neighbors knocked down their house to build from scratch. From across the street both watching and chatting I witnessed a change process.
They saw a future state for the structure and for their family relationship.
They made the calculations and had the discussion necessary to define their end state.
The change was a result of difficulties in their current state.
And they knew there would be a transition.
I keep seeing change perspectives that strongly emphasize the need to analyze the current state and define the movement to the future state. Fingernails on a chalkboard that approach is to me. If you begin with the current state as an executive or change agent you will put parameters (status quo) around your change that may be difficult or impossible to overcome. By comparison if you define an end state and work back you can have positive change people can move toward.
This is a subtle but distinct difference that only a few understand.
And I think it is why change “fails” and change management is seen as a negative.
Unknowingly they followed an end state approach.
Suppose they had followed the historical change approach (things like urgency, fighting resistance, a mini readiness assessment and current to future state, etc)?
Then they would have looked at the current state and decided what to keep.
In a way they could not have an end state because by keeping they force themselves into simply a future state.
By keeping they increase both the length and the difficulty of the transition.
And there is a very good chance that difficulty increases labor costs and puts both a current and future stress on their family relationship (all the systems will fall apart soon after they finish).
They have a beautiful house that fit smoothly into their budget, was not too far off the timeline and they are happy (and will be into the future with limited maintenance).
No you can’t always tear down and start from scratch (buildings/systems or people/cultures), but you can often move to the lot next door and do something similar.