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Six Images of Change
Companies or organizations can go through periods of stagnation. This could range from
production of sales plateauing to the culture amongst the employees being stale. Some
companies will go through some sort of transformation, whether that is due to internal or external
factors. Before a change can actually occurred, managers need to identify one of the six image of
a change leader. By doing so, this will help the leaders make sense of their organization and
point out the strengths and weakness with their internal mental image(Heinz, 2020).
The six images are broken-up into two separate categories, controlling and shaping.
Controlling uses a chain-of-command approach and to drive the company progressively forward.
Shaping develops the employees which would hopefully improve the company’s function.
Neither is “good” or “bad”, depending on the situation both can be used(Bamidele-Sadiq, 2018).
On the controlling side, there is a director, a navigator, and a caretaker. On the shaping side,
there is a coach, an interpreter, and a nurturer.
A director believes it is essential to produce successful organizational change. To
produce these changes, the director believes the company’s vision drives changes. A navigator
does not necessary believe a company’s vision drives change but they believe that a vision is
constantly evolving. Therefore, they navigate through the various vision that could occur. A
caretaker believes vision is directed from external and internal factors(Heinz, 2020.
A coach believes vision should emerge with the employees through shaping their agendas
and desired futures. An interpreter relies on their intuitive approach to develop vision, relying on
imagination and imagery. They also believe that the true vision of the organization will be
revealed during change. The last of six-image is a nurturer, which believe change occurs when at
any level, no matter how big or small. Furthermore, they believe change occurs through chaotic,
external forces.
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Six Images of Change
I scored the highest on the coach of six images of change while my lowest was director
on the assessment. I am not surprise I score the highest in as a coach, considering in my
professional life I coach young athletes. The director perspective lacks the human interaction
component, when compared to coach. Giving my military background, I could be a director if
need be and lead a team successful. However, this would not bring me joy or happiness at work.
In my opinion, the image that would be difficult to portray would be is a nurturer. While I
understand external factors are constantly changing, I believe if we let external factors dictate the
company vision, the company loses its identity. For example, Chick-fil-A CEO, Dan Cathy made
some remarks opposing same-sex marriage based on his Christian beliefs in 2012. This led to
LGBT activist to boycott and protest the fast-food restaurant chain. It appears the controversial
comments have not damage Chick-fil-A system-wide revenue, as it reached from 4.6 billion in
2012 to 11.32 billion in 2019 (Mandel, 2020).
In my opinion, Ron Johnson, a former J.C. Penny CEO, had a good plan starting out. I
believe changing the culture of any organization or company is a great start. Getting rid of the
promotions and selling the price at a fair-market value were a great idea. However, this alienated
J.C. loyal, traditional customers. As it was mention in the textbook, during Johnson’s tenure at
J.C. Penny, stock plummet(Heinz, 2020). One of the most concerning issues was J.C. Penny was
it didn’t cater or listen to its most faithful customers.
Another issue was changing the exchange policy, where customers did not need a receipt
to return an item. This eventually led to customers abusing the system. This is not the first time
customers took advantageod that was meant for conveniience, and how business paid for it.
Blockbusters eliminated of their late fee policy in 2005. The late fee policy was supposed to
increase brand loyalty and gain potential customers. However, of course, customers abused the
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Six Images of Change
system and Blockbuster realizes too was a costly error. It was estimated that Blockbuster lost
$200 million that year(Alumni, 2017).
As the textbook mention, there seem to be a clash between the “new school” versus “old
school”. For me, this would create a toxic environment and resentment amongst the executives.
The collaboration between two parties could bring the best of both worlds. I would do my best to
inspire my employees and find out what motivates them. I believe it is the employees to drive the
company forward, not the company driving the employees.
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Six Images of Change
References:
Alumni, T. (2017, February 2). Blockbuster: It's failure and lessons to Digital Transformers.
Retrieved March 29, 2021, from
https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-digit/submission/blockbuster-its-failure-and-lessons-to-
digital-transformers/
Bamidele-Sadiq, M. (2018). Leading the change with six images of a Change Leader. Westcliff
International Journal of Applied Research, 2(2), 18-23. doi:10.47670/wuwijar201822mbs
Heinz, A. (2020). Leading Organizational Change (1st ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
doi:9781307616309
Mandel, E. (2020, May 18). Bizjournals.com. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from
https://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2020/05/18/chick-fil-a-top-3-restaurant-sales-
technomic.html
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