Have you ever had an unexpected change forced on you? How did it feel to have the status quo suddenly thrown off kilter? Did you feel shocked? Angry?
You may have wanted to cover your ears, close your eyes and scream "Noooooooo"? Or maybe you just felt bemused by what you perceived to be the stupidity or selfishness of others?
If you’re one of the 10 million plus fans of the Great British Bake Off, you've probably had rather a sharp reminder of what unwelcome change feels like in the last two weeks.
Changes, by their very nature, generate emotional reactions; we fear them and crave them in almost equal measure. How we feel about a specific change depends upon how much we value the outcome we expect from it.
In the case of Bake Off, there will have been some people who were very happy with the announcement: Those getting something from it. This included Love Productions (who will get a LOT more money), Channel 4 (the higher their viewing figures, the greater their advertising revenue) and of course all those companies who might be looking forward to advertising on Britain’s favourite TV Show.
But, and this is a big but, in the excitement, did Love Productions and Channel 4 consider how those outside their bubble of excitement would feel about the change?
My guess is that they didn’t think very hard about it at all! Why? Because, as it rapidly transpired, they hadn’t even considered the impact of the change on the show’s presenters and judges. Not only had they not been involved in the process, they hadn’t been informed and, crucially, they hadn’t agreed to it.
Or, in other words, the presenters themselves didn’t (yet) see the value in the change.
And so it was that, within 24 hours of the announcement, Mel & Sue (viewed by many as an integral part of the show’s charm) declined to 'follow the dough' and quit, and Mary Berry followed suit soon after.
The production company and Channel 4 has already, apparently, failed to anticipate the largely negative reaction from viewers, concerned that not only would advertisement breaks take up to a third of the programme, but that the show’s format and feel would change irrevocably. Now, it seemed that they may have just killed their golden goose.
Those who were ‘craving’ the change might now be reflecting on their failure to consider the impact of the change on others; Channel 4 may just have spent £75m for a tent, Paul Hollywood and a lot less viewers (Top Gear anyone?) Whilst Love Productions will, almost certainly, have seriously damaged their relationship with the BBC (the very organisation who trusted them when no one else would listen).
So what can we learn from this that we can, as managers, apply the next time we need to implement a change?
To continue with our baking analogy, let’s look at a recipe for success:
Our ingredients:
- All the people who will be impacted by the change.
- All the people whose behaviour will have an impact on the success of the change.
Method:
- Decide on a strategy for communicating with your stakeholders.
- Listen to their views or concerns and give them an opportunity to make suggestions.
- Make appropriate adjustments to your plans.
- Give them reason(s) to value the change.
- Ask for their support in making the change a success.
- Keep communicating; don’t take their support for granted.
Implementing change is rarely easy, and few of us will ever be involved in one that has generated as many headlines as The Great British Bake Off has this week. In failing to follow even the most basic recipe, the show’s producers and Channel 4 may have just failed their Technical Challenge. One can only hope that they learn from the experience so that it doesn’t become a Showstopper too.