With all the change occurring in our industry and the world right now, change is a big topic. So big, in fact, that the trick is to figure out what part of change to focus on. Here, we’re going to zero in on what drives change in our industry, the three basic phases of change, what goes wrong during change, and finally, what we should expect from people caught up in change.

Change is, simply, a significant difference in what was before. In business, change is something to strive for. In the words of Kudray and Kleiner (who wrote “Global Trends in Managing Change”) it is “the continuous process of aligning an organization with its marketplace—and doing so more responsibly and effectively than competitors.”


Industry Triggers
There are two primary triggers of change in an organization: external and internal. To name a few:

External
• laws and regulations: tram safety, immigration reform, international worker regulations, rulings on ski-related lawsuits

• globalization of markets and business: the dollar vs. the pound, euro, and Canadian dollar

• political, environmental and social issues: the greening of the ski industry, the real estate market, election year

• ownership: mergers, consolidations and REITs, oh my!

• technology: Raise your hand if you have a Blackberry…or…what year did you start using e-mail as your preferred method of communication?

• competition: changing customer expectations, a shift in customer access, databases and storefronts

• weather: shortened seasons, January thaw, rain events, global warming

Internal
• financials: expenses and overhead vs. revenue issues, pricing thresholds, capital improvements, the stagnant skier marketplace

• technology: snowmaking and lift advancements, integration of IT systems (ticket, hospitality, financial, HR, etc.)

• people: ownership stability, leadership bandwidth, nepotism, labor pools, bench strength of the up and comers, the old guard vs. the new guard, cross pollination—leaders moving between companies

• branding: target markets, reinventing ourselves, moving toward an all-season business model

• administrative structures: layoffs, reassignments, organizational right-sizing, managing expenses and overhead while maintaining positive community relations

Really, the list is never ending. Russ Coloton of Hunter Mountain summed it up best. “There’s a definition on the board in my office, I read it, discuss it and try to live up to it every day with every staff member: ‘Lean: the process of creating precise customer value with higher quality and fewer defects, with less human effort, less space, less capital, and less time.’”

Perhaps that’s the true definition of change in the ski industry.


Change Process
Viewed simply, change is a three-part process: the Present State, the Desired State and the in-between Neutral Zone. The Present State represents current systems, processes, policies, and people involved in the organization. The Desired State is the vision, outcome or result that the change decision describes. It’s what the organization seeks to do or be.

The Neutral Zone is the period of time the organization will go through when the Present State no longer exists and the Desired State has not yet been achieved. It’s the most easily recognized state of change, largely because it’s the most uncomfortable. The Neutral Zone is also marked by something called Transition, the predominantly psychological process people must go through to adapt to and embrace the Desired State.

The hallmarks of an effective organization are efficiency, flexibility and rapid adaptation to change. A sign of these characteristics is that there is prompt and widespread acceptance of change.

Such businesses are rare. Many organizations get stuck in the Neutral Zone inadvertently. This is usually caused by processes and systems that are in flux and undependable, and by a polarization between individuals who want to move forward and those hanging onto the “old ways.” Being stuck in transition causes gossip, mistrust, apathy, anxiety, resistance and sometimes even sabotage.

How quickly people get through the Neutral Zone depends on a number of factors, such as the significance of the change, whether the individual chose the change, what the individual will gain or lose as a result of change, and the amount and severity of change occurring in other parts of the individual’s life. The leaders in an organization also play a significant role in easing transition for staff.


Managing Change
Several key actions can inspire trust, which is at the heart of managing change.

1. Increase structure and reduce ambiguity. Most people strive toward control or influence over their environment. Change, particularly change one didn’t initiate or choose, causes discomfort. The resistant feelings people have about change are basically about lack of control. So, validate the notion that the change is happening or going to happen openly with people, and keep on with the processes and systems that worked for you in the Present State. People sometimes assume that if change is coming, that they should halt all activities. Stick with some elements of the old structure to reduce ambiguity and increase the comfort level.

2. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate! Maintain—in fact, increase—your regular staff meetings, functions, and other communication vehicles so folks can see that life and business continue during change.

Inform everyone, at every level, regularly. Not knowing what will happen next just makes people uncomfortable. Feed the grapevine by communicating regularly and formally, even when there isn’t much to communicate. In a void of information people will make up their own reality.

3. Make room for participation. Give employees a role to play in reaching your Desired State. Wherever possible, solicit input on how to create the steps and outcomes you want. Use focus groups, surveys, task forces or one-on-one interviews to find out what your staff thinks the desired state should look like. Participation creates informed staff, and that lowers potential resistance.

4. Measure and Celebrate. Every change has many steps, phases, stages and setbacks. It’s much easier for folks to recognize failures and setbacks than to see the new order. The solution? Set and publicize meaningful but attainable short-term goals to ensure success and movement through the process. Shamelessly advertise your milestones and success. If you’re not talking about them, nobody is!

5. Start with the most senior level team in the organization. Regularly and candidly discuss the real milestones and setbacks of the change initiative. Seek ownership, clarity, and consensus within this team. The overall organization is only as functional as its most senior team. If they are dysfunctional in the process of change, the organization will clearly mirror it.


Pitfalls of Change
The greatest pitfall of change management is failing to complete the change. New strategies aren’t well implemented, expected synergies are never fully achieved, and stabilization becomes the goal. Suspicion, confusion, cynicism, and self preservation spread and can take years to overcome.

You need allies to make change succeed, and they are easy enough to find. At the start of any change the people in your organization generally separate into three different groups; Initiators, Defenders and the Majority. Guess who your friends are.

The Initiators represent about 16 percent of your organization and usually include senior leaders/owners that have done the research, run the numbers, analyzed the marketplace and made the decision to change.

The Defenders also represent 16 percent of the organization, albeit a frequently vocal percentage. Defenders actively defend the status quo. They have yet to see and understand the rationale for change; if they aren’t soon convinced, they often become resistant. But they also represent an opportunity. If you can convert this vocal minority—which often includes crusty, highly skilled technicians with lots of tenure with the organization—to Initiators, how much faster and easier your change management process will be!

The final and largest segment of the organization in change is the Majority; 68 percent of folks will settle comfortably here. Comfort is just what the Majority seeks; not willing to make a choice for or against change, they don’t contribute a whole lot until pressed. This adds to the likelihood that the organization will experience a longer and more complicated Neutral Zone.

Danger or opportunity?
Think of it as a continuum, from change as danger to change as opportunity. We each have a safety zone of behavior when it comes to change, large or small, and tend to react within that zone. Knowing that, leaders can do much to help reduce resistance and bolster individual resilience when it comes to change.

Resistance is an emotional response to a perceived loss of control. It’s usually driven by a lack of information and trust. People resist both overtly and covertly; I’d much prefer overt resistance, as it affords you the opportunity to improve your information and trust-building activities. Unfortunately, in most organizations resistance is covert, rarely providing leaders the opportunity to easily understand what’s not working.

Nominal levels of resistance to change are completely normal and should be anticipated. When it is pervasive in the organization and continues to linger, there are some likely concern areas that should be addressed:

• substantive change in job and/or skill requirements

• reduction in economic security or threat to employment

• disruption of social arrangements

• reduction of power and career opportunities

• failure to understand the problem

• belief that the proposed solution won’t work

• insufficient rewards

• suspicion of management’s motives

Resilience is the process of successfully adapting to life experiences. And research shows there are three competencies of resilience: Inward Focus, Outward Focus and a Talent for Serendipity. Inward Focus means the individual displays self-esteem, learns from experience, and generally assumes that “things will work out somehow.” The Outward Focus skill set consists of strong problem-solving skills, a driving curiosity, proactive nature, and strong empathetic relationship skills.

Building resilience is about equal parts action and attitude, which boils down to the third competency of resilience, a Talent for Serendipity. All the usual clichés apply: “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger,” “make lemonade out of lemons,” “every cloud has a silver lining,” “fake it ’til you make it.” I truly believe that your attitude drives your actions, and that those two things together determine your experiences.

I’ve spent an extraordinary amount of time with people from all walks of this industry, learning what causes their success and failures. I’ve seen that an attitude of resilience is a key characteristic of successful leaders.

The beauty of attitude is that you get to choose yours, all the time. If you screw up or make a bad choice once in a while, you get a do-over, another chance at resilience. In a changing and chaotic environment, the one thing we’ll always have control over is how we’ll react by choosing our attitude.

It must be said that we are an industry of optimists. Every day we manage the constant change of unexpected problems, customer expectations, weather, staffing, technology and even world events. Yet we continue to believe that something better lies around the bend, waiting to help us create the best season ever.

Spread that attitude within your organization, and you can change just about anything.

The Guest Editor’s Take
If you do not proactively change, adapt, and reinvent yourself, other forces will make change unavoidable. The choice facing leadership is to either lead the way or suffer the consequences of playing catch up.

Leading the way does not imply clairvoyance or clear sailing, but that the culture can adapt to unforeseen changes because that attitude is hardwired into the organization. It means an organization can steer the ship with small corrections with high likelihood of staying on course.

Playing catch up means an organization can be caught off-guard by trends or triggers. The focus, energy, and resources are then dealing with existing changes rather than looking for future opportunities. It is like riding down a black diamond trail looking at your boots. You see everything go by, but can’t react fast enough to stay in control. A culture of catching up makes the unexpected changes even harder to manage. During the toughest times, resistance to change within the organization is strongest when it is least opportune.

I learned this lesson as a competitive athlete in the ’80’s and ’90’s. I was one of the first ski jumpers to embrace technical change—in particular, the V-style technique from ski flying. That made the difference between remaining a regional-level competitor and becoming a two-time Olympian. Many international athletes ignored this technique until just weeks before the 1992 Olympics; their resistance to change resulted in their hopes for a medal evaporating. Although my willingness to change did not ultimately earn me any medals, it at least got me to the Games. Otherwise, I would have been catching up on the results on international TV.

Today, as a manager of a bike park, terrain park system, and youth marketing efforts, I must stay tuned to trends, fads, and the latest-and-greatest ideas from opinion leaders. Terrain parks that remain unchanged for the season get bashed through word-of-mouth and in the forums. Parks that welcome change based on feedback and balance it with other guests’ needs help ensure the product is evolving in parallel with the sport. The same willingness to embrace chance can improve the performance of just about every department at a resort.

—Bob Holme, Winter Park



The Industry Speaks
In the busy days preceding the December holidays, a number of seasoned resort professionals made time to reflect upon and discuss their own perspectives on change with SAM’s Nicole Voth.

SAM: What are the keys to a successful change?

Coloton: I’ve noticed the keys to change are part communication and part personality. People handle change better with more information, but sometimes we get busy or the issue is sensitive in nature and that hinders communicating. When it comes to personality, some people like change and others feel threatened by it.

White: What’s important in change is pace. Even those who are enthusiastic need to be kept on track and set realistic goals for themselves. Change isn’t something that you can do overnight.

DeVivo: My philosophy is that we can always be five percent better, no matter how well we’re doing. That doesn’t work for everyone. I want people to know that neither my curiosity nor my use of the word “why” are meant as criticism; I’m simply trying to learn as much as possible about their operation so I can best support them.

SAM: How should a regime change be handled, such as a new leader in the organization or a new parent company?

Kircher: When there is a regime change, focus on working toward a common cultural language with clear expectations around productivity, a cross-pollination of best practices and strive toward a meetings rhythm. Meetings are a critical part of communication; create very strict guidelines for them that prevent misinformation and lags in information.

Rathbun: The staff, relatively speaking, is the easier part because we interact daily. The ownership change we experienced has unleashed this team to do what they always knew they could from a product and experience standpoint. The community and our guests are where we are challenged most, we “moved their cheese” and many don’t like it or understand why. Our approach to communications is another way we’ve changed. We used to make bold statements and promises, now we prefer to talk about what we’ve accomplished. There is a new communications style and culture developing at the ski area and the community especially is having a difficult time understanding the difference.

SAM: What’s the most difficult or frustrating part of managing change?

DeVivo: The hardest lesson I’ve had to learn over the past decade is that you should steer a big ship slowly. Don’t make a 90-degree turn when a 45-degree turn will work. Have patience and slow down a bit to let situations play out, rather than being bullheaded or using the “my way or the highway” mentality.

Coloton: We’ve been focusing on making our operations as lean as possible. Making smart business changes can mean more work for year-round people; they can become overloaded. Too much change can create stress on people; they become fearful and feed on rumors and conspiracy theories.

White: Leaders vs. laggards. The leaders are people interested in moving the organization forward and doing it fast. The laggards are interested in keeping things the same. They both present a challenge; finding the middle ground between those extremes. I’d rather the folks in the middle be on one side or another because if they’re in the middle they may not care. Have an opinion and get involved in my organization.

Pack: If change happens without everyone having the right story, if it’s not communicated properly at first, the rumor mill spreads like wildfire and then you have to wrangle a big mess for months. Handle it the right way first. To disseminate information through the organization, check the message with others; take five minutes to design an “elevator speech.” That way everyone will be speaking about the change with the same voice.

SAM: How do you measure and celebrate success in change?

Pack: Whether change is good or bad you’ll learn from it. Focus on what and how we grow from change and that’s a celebration.

DeVivo: Celebrate your team’s milestone achievements all the time, and share them as publicly as you can. When communicating changes, you’re better off delivering it straight and quickly so people can deal with it and move on. Point out the positives for people, while giving the fullest disclosure you can. People appreciate honesty, and it’s proven to be the best policy.

SAM: What are the keys to resilience and how have you overcome resistance?

White: The keys to organizational resilience are coaching, encouragement and honesty, with both the good and bad news.

Pack: Try to keep focused and tune out the noise. If it doesn’t affect you or your job, why worry about it? Continually question, “how is this my issue?” If it isn’t, move on. There’s a “new guard” in leadership, they move around more, are free thinkers, accustomed to change and want to shake things up a bit. It used to be you waited 15 to 20 years or more for your spot as the director of mountain ops. When you wait in line under the same leadership, with limited exposure to change and doing things differently, it makes it hard to break out of the mold.

Coloton: I look at change as a new opportunity. Every new season gets me excited; I get to reinvent myself, the business and influence outcomes. That’s what gets me up in the morning. When I feel resistant I try to find the reasons driving the change and explain how I feel but in the end I know: get on board or get out of the way.

Kircher: People come wired differently. Like any entrepreneur I enjoy the conflict a little bit. Not everybody is good at everything, seek to use and employ those who are good at change.

SAM: How do you earn trust in an organization?

Rathbun: Time is the true factor that will determine success. It takes a long time, sometimes several years. No matter what we say, folks won’t understand the impact until they experience it themselves. We strive to stay consistent and clear in our message and tell people what we’ve accomplished.

Kircher: Earning trust is about being open, honest and timely. Life’s too short to be telling two different stories to two different people.

SAM: What do you want SAM readers to know about change in our industry?

White: Anyone who is looking for status quo in this industry should find another line of work. Change is a part of why people stay in the industry so long. Think of fall, it’s the most exciting time of the year for most of us; new faces, new equipment, new season and the snow just around the corner.

Kircher: Leadership during change is about planning and communicating a vision. When you focus on that, folks can rally around it, and stress will be reduced because people know where they’re going.

Coloton: Change is the nature of the beast of this industry; weather, parks/pipes and day-to-day ops, you name it.

DeVivo: At the end of the day, when it comes to organizational change, you may eventually find a need for a benevolent dictatorship. The management team may simply have to let people know what direction the company is taking, then ask them to come along and support that direction. Then you can allow them to make the choice between either being on board or being left behind.

Pack: Know change is inevitable, but that change for change’s sake creates an unsettled environment and the uneasiness creates counter productivity. Sometimes you have to say “no” to change to maintain stability in the organization because the time just isn’t right.

Rathbun: Some change is a one-time event and some is continuous. If you can achieve the mindset that we can always get better, those one-time events aren’t as daunting. Passion for the industry is the key for me. It’s only new for a little while; next year it won’t be new anymore!