By Luciano Hernández

Every improvement project in an organization requires an accompanying inclusive process of change management. People need to be considered, because is them who will have to make changes, big and small, in their behavior in order for the improvement implementation to be successful.
How to Achieve Tangible and Lasting Results in a Company
In my accompanying as a consultor I seek for tangible and lasting results for businesses. Starting from the premise that people’s behavior is one of the key aspects for organizations to achieve their goals.
I have a couple of beliefs that lead my interventions on companies. The first one of them is a declaration made by W.E. Deming which stands:
“When most of the people behave in a certain way most of the time, they are not the problem, but it’s a problem inherent in the system”.
The second one affirms:
“Any strategy that’s worth implementing in an organization goes through making changes in the behavior of those who are part of the system.”
Based on this beliefs, I’ve developed methodologies that make easier the system redesign and that, at the same time, contribute in modifying people’s behavior. It’s been a long try and fail process.
The Human Part as a Consultor
My business education has allowed me to develop with a certain easiness the technical part of the projects. It’s not been like that in the human part of them. I have taken courses of change management, attended leadership workshops and talks, read books on organizational culture, and coaching. Anyway, I’ve dedicated a bunch of hours understanding people in order to guide them in the delicate process of changing to improve, first them, and then the organization.
Being in a training with Michael Blumenstein and Katia Del Rivero, was first of all a revelation in understanding their perspective on the human phenomenon, and at the same time, a synthesis that gave sense to what I’ve learned in the last 10 years working with management teams.
I could share many ideas, however I want to focus on some concepts that have changed and enriched my job as a consultant:
- Knowing how social systems work and the impact that these have in people’s behavior has allowed me to understand the dynamics in an organization in a way I couldn’t understand before. Today, I can place myself in the observer role, and help people identify hidden dynamics that give life and stability to the system. I don’t need to tell them that some behaviors affect the effectiveness of the group, they are able to see it with their own eyes. The need for change becomes obvious, and the possibilities of building better relationships in between the group come up easier.
- Understanding that every social system is a co-creation has given me the possibility of making important changes in the dynamic of executive and management teams easier. I’ve acknowledge a new perspective for analyzing the phenomenon of co-responsibility and self-management. Listening to someone say he is the only responsible of having a good time in his particular social system, and in life in general it’s a great step forward for the transformation of the persona and the organization.
- Finally, the concept of social roles has changed greatly my idea of leadership, I still believe it’s a necessary function in every team, however I’ve changed my approach when I’m guiding those who perform that function. In the past I would give a lot of importance to their role as the architect and builder of the system. This was a very complex task, and required a lot of time and effort from the leader. It suddenly seemed like this process added a great charge on the leader, who I felt overwhelmed and many times, exhausted. Today, by understating that we all contribute to the system with a social role, that we all are co-creators of it, and that we are biologically gifted with enoughness, my idea of a leader drifts away from the builder figure, who needs to wreck walls for making significant changes in his work, and gets closer to an artist, a painter for example, who is able to make great changes in his works adding colors and forms. I still think it requires time and effort, only now is way less complex. Every time I sense a leader who feels helpless my first question is “If you looked at this situation from your enoughness, and you wished to make a contribution that opened possibilities that would allow a different result, what would you do?”
- Is the system important? Yes. Only now I realize that is everyone’s responsibility to design, built, take care of, and develop it. Contributing to this purpose from our enoughness would seem a safer and enriching path for the person and the group.
- Michael used to say that his theory was a path towards peace, I’m sure that accompanying managers and executives in this new knowledge I make a contribution to make organizations a better place for people’s development, and as a natural consequence, more rentable and sustainable businesses. I can’t finish this article in a better way than saying, thank you my dear Michael.
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