Match Strategy to Situation

Ask yourself: What kind of change am I being called upon to lead?

What kind of change leader am I?

STARS Model (page 72)

Key to understanding how you will approach the new job is to look through the lens of the STARS model to determine how you will approach the job and each task you take on.

There are four types of situations according to a STARS model: Startup, Turnaround, Accelerated Growth, Realignment and Sustaining Success. Each require a different approach.

1. Startup: Decisive Decision making needed (hunter mentality rather than farmer mentality). Use the shoot, then aim approach. The energy is excited chaos, and your role is to make calls on what not to do. Climb quickly up the technical learning curve, political learning curve is less critical here. Take the offensive approach on the product and market.
2. Turnaround: Decisive Decision making needed (also hunter mentality). Shoot, then aim approach. Morale may be low here, but people are aware that change is needed. This means you can make changes by using the plan-then-implement approach (rather than the collective learning approach). Take the defensive approach on the product and market. Pare down to critical elements of the product and secure that as a base first, then go after more marketshare.
3. Realignment: Collaborative decision making is needed (farmer mentality). You have more time to assess the situation here, so aim carefully before firing. The Political learning curve is critical here, so set aside time to climb up this curve. People are not aware that change is needed, so to make change, you need to use the collective learning approach. Help people become aware that change is needed, and collaborate to create a plan for change that everyone is bought into. You may take an offensive or defensive approach on the product and market depending on the situation.
4. Sustaining Success: Collaborative decision making is needed (farmer mentality). You have more time to assess the situation here so it is an aim and fire approach. Spend time to climb the political learning curve so you can assert the right influence to get things done. Measuring success is tricky here, since it's more incremental successes rather than "splash" success. Set expectations with management accordingly. Take a defensive approach to the product and market, make sure you secure existing marketshare and keep the organizing moving forwards, not backwards.

Leading Change in Turnarounds versus Realignments