Leadership is fundamentally about driving change within an organization – after all, people typically excel at maintaining existing operations. However, I frequently observe leaders struggling with change. At times it is hard to realize that it is needed (or when it is not needed!), but even when a leader concludes that change is required, they often struggle with enacting the change. Years ago, I attended a workshop called “Leading Change,” which introduced me to the DVLF framework. This is a tool that helps with initiating changes, specifically, whether conditions affecting the change are sufficient for it to be successful. It doesn’t pretend to be a full change framework, instead focusing on communicating and initiating the change.
The framework can be summarized with a simple equation:
D×V×L×F > R
- Where
- D = Dissatisfiers,
- V = Vision,
- L = Linkages,
- F = First steps,
- and
- R = Resistance to change.
I’ll expand on each of these below, but critically, each of these is an a 0..1 scale, so if any of them is low (weak), the multiplication tends towards zero, indicating that circumstances are insufficient to overcome R, the natural resistance to change.
Dissatisfiers are the reasons that the current state of affairs cannot continue, i.e., the reasons why the organization must do something different. This aspect is critical to get right because of the “Why Learners” in your organization.
Vision for the change is description of how things will be better once the change has been completed. It needs to be reasonably detailed so that it is credible.
Linkages are the people or organizations whose help is needed to make the change successful. This could be your peers, your boss, management, partner groups or companies, etc. (and a bonus one below).
First steps are the specific concrete first few steps needed for the organization to start enacting the change. It is important that these are simple and achievable, as successful completion builds momentum, which helps the change be successful.
Resistance to the change is natural – people generally prefer the status quo, even those of us who like novel things. Resistance to change is often embodied by a few vocal people (or groups), frequently those who are more experienced and/or who have the longest tenure on the project. These can become your most important Linkages – if you can address their concerns, the Vision and First Steps get stronger, and they convert from resisting to supporting the change.
