Presidential transitions are complex. They involve our national government, our leaders and politics. I am sure the Biden administration has a lot of guidance on the political and government transitions. I wonder if they are involving enough people with experience managing complex organizational change and transition?  The turn-around job they face is enormous.

When a business or organization is in crisis, there are many choices for first actions. My experience with difficult and messy nonprofit transitions has repeatedly taught me how easy it is to focus on the wrong question or to spend too much or too little time and leadership capital on a distraction. Lack of attention to, and impatience with, process undermines most change efforts. (Most mistakes are fueled by rushing, see last week’s post on Wait for it.)

Spending a few minutes listening to The Center for Presidential Transition’s podcast Talking Transitions can make your head spin with all the issues and the pressure to “get it right” in a very short time period. In the podcast, leaders from four recent presidential administrations make vivid the daunting task ahead.

 For the career leaders and incoming cabinet heads, there is a booklet called Agency Transition Guide. Written in June 2020, with assistance from a leading national consulting company, the Boston Consulting Group embedded in the report is one short paragraph which in my mind will determine  how much “success” the Biden and Harris team will have:   

“Managing change in the public sector is especially challenging given the high stakes and risks of failure that include wasting taxpayer dollars or undermining mission effectiveness. The focus must be on managing change to maximize the chance for success and minimize risk. By focusing on the core functions of change management in this guide, agencies can substantially increase their odds of success and deliver lasting impact.”

A trip to the Biden website makes clear the Biden-Harris team has a clear and compelling vision. There is no shortage of hopes and dreams for a better America.

William Bridges, a leading writer and practitioner of transition management, advocates distinguishing between change and transition. The change is the inauguration of President-elect Biden on June 20, 2021. The transition is underway now and will continue for the foreseeable future.

If the Biden-Harris team wants to pay attention to both change and transition, they might broaden their leadership team to include leaders and consultants who have led complex processes that address both change and transition. Most change efforts fail because there is too little attention to process – to who is losing and who is gaining from the change.

Dave Snowden defines a complex problem as one that is evolving, interdependent, dynamic, non-linear and unpredictable. These problems require a creative and innovative interdependent team. Solutions emerge as the problem evolves, and problems continue to emerge as new solutions are implemented. Leading such process requires participants with specific knowledge and patience for right answers to evolve. Solving the problems of running our democracy will take time and the right participants.

If anything is clear, we don’t have any consensus on the big transitions the Biden team wants to lead – out of the Corona virus, into economic health and more equity while facing systemic racism and climate change.

An interesting diagram in the Agency Transition Guide has an organizational chart with an appointed Cabinet leader, a career agency person as transition team leader and on the team, support people from IT, Budget, HR, Legal and Policy.

Unfortunately, this is a common error in change management. Too many people with technical skills are on the bus, but not enough people with organizational change and transition skills.

To really engage in a process that aims to change the national discord and expand the mandate for change that benefit all in America, the Biden-Harris team might take a look at:

• Interim ministers have learned a significant amount over four decades in supporting church congregations in transitioning from one leader to another. The personalities and range of opinions mirror our divided electorate.  While this suggestion may seem odd, interim ministers are trained to focus on five essential developmental tasks during transition. The first is “coming to terms with history.” Nothing could be more important in building a broader consensus. (See The Alban Institute and Interim Ministry Network).
•  There is an association of professionals in the Organizational Development Network who do change and transition work every day. Big corporations, colleges and universities and other nonprofits turn to their members to provide guidance and facilitation for big change efforts.
• An association of professionals focused on change in nonprofit organizations belongs to the Alliance for Nonprofit Management. This mix of solo consultants, small firms and researchers and funders committed to organizational excellence is an untapped treasure trove for relevant skills.
• The Bridgespan Group is a hybrid firm, which applies for-profit consulting practices to nonprofit and philanthropy, a relevant experience for these times.

None of these organizations are anywhere as big, well-resourced or in some views as sophisticated as the large for-profit consulting companies who dominate the field and the conversation – Bain Consulting, McKinsey and the Boston Consulting Group among them.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris invited all Americans to join a “Battle for the Soul of America.”  It is going to take a different kind of leadership and experience to connect with the many diverse souls who make up America and engage them in change. The smaller organizations mentioned above who work with grass roots leaders know firsthand the challenges of healing racial wounds and building broader coalitions for change.

Our nation needs a radically different approach to this presidential transition. Pundits say often that campaigns are poetry and governing is prose! How the Biden team selects leaders and builds a team to lead both change and transition will influence how far America moves in the next four years.