Avoiding the Nostalgia Trap: Engineering Change with Anthony Dicks, Jr. of 180 Management Group

This week, your host, Matt Barnes, sat down with Anthony A. Dicks, Jr, Senior Leadership Consultant at 180 Management Group, to explore how to engineer and action transformational change in your nonprofit organization.

Who is 180 Management Group?

Founded by Anthony’s wife and recent Nonprofit Connect guest, Miriam Dicks, 180 Management Group is a consulting firm specializing in transformational strategy and design for nonprofits. They offer coaching, consulting, and contracting services to leaders looking to transform their organizational culture and operations.

Actioning Change

Every process, structure, and function within an organization has some form of story attached to it—the reason why it is the way it is and why people choose to use it. Because of nostalgia, teams hold these existing processes in very high regard and often look at proposed changes as lesser than what already exists. That is where resistance comes in.

The only way to change the culture is to understand it objectively and assess the stories behind every function. To reduce resistance, Anthony recommends two strategies: an evolutionary approach and a storytelling approach.

As a business evolves and the team within it evolves, the culture should also evolve. If it doesn’t, you will likely face culture inertia and a reduction in performance. When actioning change, you should present the strategy as a natural step in the evolutionary process that is necessary for the company to flourish.

“That attitude of ‘let's see how we can help this organization evolve in a transformative way’ gives you the language, the mindset, and the disposition to help move the organization forward because there is going to be some requisite resistance to change.”

In terms of storytelling, Anthony finds that teams often romanticize the old way of doing things, similar to how the general public reflects on times gone by as the "good old days." If you correlate this to a story, the "good old days" translate to the climax. But the climax is not the end of the story; it is the gateway to the peaceful resolution. So leaders should demonstrate to their team that change does not mean waving goodbye to the "good old days," but moving into the next chapter, which allows for further steps towards achieving your organization’s mission. This could mean entering glory days or even facing struggles, so it’s important not to sell pipe dreams of a wholly positive future but instead instill hope that will create the energy within your team to pursue change that will move the needle forward.

“In a story, the climax isn't the end. The climax of the story sets up the resolution and peace side of the story. The climax of the story helps to set up the happily ever after.”

Want more on engineering transformational change? 

Listen to this episode of the Nonprofit Connect podcast to hear the rest of Anthony’s insights!