22 Sep 5,000+ Miles to Change: An ADKAR® Story
About ten years ago, the Access Sciences team embarked on a search to explore and test a standardized approach that we could adopt and use as our own to deliver and optimize organizational change results for our clients.
If you tuned into the August webinar I co-presented with my colleague Sondra H. Ludwick, you will probably remember that after our evaluation was complete, we found that Prosci’ s structured methodology for organizational change was the one that made sense for us as a company.
Included in this structure are the ADKAR® building blocks for successful change to occur – one person at a time.
These building blocks serve as milestones for change, leading you through each transition state to something new. When you become aware of these elements of change, it’s easy to map them to a business condition as well as a personal situation. A few years after one of my own personal journeys, I was able to map those ADKAR® milestones to a change that led me to someplace new.
About ten years ago, the Access Sciences team embarked on a search to explore and test a standardized approach that we could adopt and use as our own to deliver and optimize organizational change results for our clients.
If you tuned into the August webinar I co-presented with my colleague Sondra H. Ludwick, you will probably remember that after our evaluation was complete, we found that Prosci’ s structured methodology for organizational change was the one that made sense for us as a company.
Included in this structure are the ADKAR® building blocks for successful change to occur – one person at a time.
These building blocks serve as milestones for change, leading you through each transition state to something new. When you become aware of these elements of change, it’s easy to map them to a business condition as well as a personal situation. A few years after one of my own personal journeys, I was able to map those ADKAR® milestones to a change that led me to someplace new.
AWARENESS of the need for change.
DESIRE to participate and support the change.
KNOWLEDGE on how to change.
ABILITY to implement required skills and behaviors.
REINFORCEMENT to sustain the change.
AWARENESS
In September 2001 – right after 9/11 – a series of events took place that made me aware of the need for change in my life.
At that time, I had been living in Anchorage, Alaska since 1995. My soon-to-be-ex-husband and I had adopted our daughter in 1996, and we had recently separated. My family and close, lifelong friends – my support system – all lived miles and miles away in the Lower 48.
I had been doing technical writing and information management contract work for a telecommunications company that was laying the undersea fiber optic cable system that connected the coast of Oregon to the shores of Cook Inlet in Whitter, Alaska. While there, I engaged a consultant to advise on some of the information management needs. When the telecom giant, WorldCom, purchased the majority of stock and took over operations of the company that I worked for, it ultimately resulted in the end of my work contract.
And we all know what happened next – WorldCom became (and still is) the biggest accounting scandal in the history of the U.S. and one of the biggest bankruptcies of all time.
So, at this point, I’m going through a divorce. We had sold our home and each moved in separate directions. I’m caring for my daughter, two dogs, and missing my family. And now, I’m also now unemployed. All of this contributed to the lightning bolt of AWARENESS that I needed change in my life.
DESIRE
After a lot of thinking, hand wringing, researching, praying, and talking it over with my friends and family, I made a firm decision that I needed to relocate myself, my daughter, and dogs back to Houston, Texas. My DESIRE to make this change happen sooner rather than later was strong. I knew that it was going to take a while to put this plan into action, so I started my journey to figure out what I had to do and the resources needed to do it.
My earlier encounter with Janice had occurred less than a month before when, as I was closing the loop on open-ended items of my job, I had called the home office of that information management consulting firm in Houston, Texas to let them know that we were canceling the contract, that I would make sure their final payment was received, and provided her my personal contact information if there were any problems. That company was Access Information Associates (AIA), what is now known as Access Sciences Corporation, and the person I spoke with that day was Janice Anderson.
Flash forward to a few weeks later, I received a call at my home from AIA’s Anchorage Manager Susan Means and CEO Janice Anderson with a request for an in-person meeting at the Starbucks location in the Anchorage Barnes & Noble. At that meeting, I was offered a temporary job to lead an information management and technology implementation project for a natural gas pipeline venture. This venture involved stakeholder alignment between the three major investors – British Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil – all with presence in Anchorage, Alaska, as well as… Houston, Texas.
KNOWLEDGE
AIA was headquartered in Houston, Texas – my intended destination once we were able to leave Alaska. I had started my research, gaining KNOWLEDGE on what I needed to do in order to make this move as seamless as possible even though it involved a new home, a new school for my daughter, a 5,000+ mile journey, belongings to transport, and… a job when I got there. So, what would a good consultant do to plan this out? Create an Excel workbook!
ABILITY
Once I had all the knowledge on how this could work, I had to answer the question, “Do I have the ABILITY to make this work?” I made a mental checklist for factors of ability, including:
Am I psychologically able to make this change?
Yes. Even though it’s a scary change, I am psychologically prepared for that change.
Am I financially able and ready to make this change?
Yes. I successfully navigated the negotiation process for a position in AIA’s Houston office, so I would have a job when I arrived.
Am I physically able to make this change?
Yes. I prepared for all the aspects of making the physical journey. I had a five-speed Toyota 4 Runner with the ability to pull an 18-foot trailer full of belongings across the Canadian and U.S. Rockies and other terrain for a total of 5,000+ miles. And most importantly, my 12 year-old Australian Shepherd – Opie – as my traveling companion.
I came to the conclusion: Yes, I have the ability to make this work.
REINFORCEMENT
Now I’m here today, blogging from my home in Houston about the ADKAR® milestones that led me to where I am. After 12 days of driving, 5,000+ miles traveled, one broken trailer axle, one lost tire, and countless moments of a full, grateful heart along my journey… I’m home. And the life I’m living today only reinforces the awareness of the need for change that took place way back in September 2001.
