The Change Process – Understanding the Issue

Systems thinking is a discipline involving considering the “big picture” and distinguishing which small changes can make the biggest impact (Rogers, 2022). Stroh (2015) proposed four steps to ensure all stakeholders are aligned in their perception of an issue and readiness to change: Recognize the value of the existing system. Compare the benefits of the existing system to those of the ultimate desired outcome. Develop potential short- and long-term solutions. Make a clear choice. Imagine your role is a consultant for your selected nonprofit’s board and its leaders. Your fictitious consultation will begin with this assignment and continue through the Module 4 and Module 5 assignments. For your Module 5 assignment, you will compile your work into a narrated presentation for the board and executive team. In this role, your task is to apply systems principles to a specific issue the nonprofit currently addresses (such as homelessness, education success, urban growth, etc.). For this assignment , you will align the issue to the organization’s mission, develop a cost-benefit change matrix for the leaders to better understand the issue, and analyze stakeholder’s readiness for change. Step 1. Identify and Align Independently or with the help of your contact at the organization, identify a key issue your selected nonprofit organization currently addresses. Is this issue related to the nonprofit’s mission? If so, how? If not, how can the issue be aligned with the mission? Has the nonprofit significantly impacted the issue? How can you tell? Step 2. Define Define the issue and the current strategies addressing the issue. List all key groups of stakeholders involved, including decision-makers, funders, implementers, and beneficiaries. Define the ultimate long-term desired outcome. This may seem like a lofty goal but should be attainable with appropriate resources in 3-5 years. Step 3. Analyze Independently or with the help of your contact at the organization, build cases for both initiating change and maintaining the status quo. Analyze the benefits and costs (ie., detriments; not necessarily financial costs) for both initiating a change toward the desired situation and maintaining the status quo. Be sure to include the perspectives of all relevant stakeholder groups. Remember the “trade-off” of any changes toward the desired state. Change may require redirection of resources, changes in staffing, or needing to “let go” of something such as comfort, security, or independence. Display your analysis in a table like this: Case for Change Case for Status Quo Benefits of change • • • Benefits of status quo • • • Costs of not changing • • • Costs of change • • • Step 4. Assess Referring to the table you developed in Step 3, assess each stakeholder group’s readiness for change. Use these questions to guide your thinking: How urgent is the need for the desired state? Do all stakeholders agree the desired state is attainable? What must be sacrificed or “let go” to attain the desired state? Step 5. Outline Compile your work from Steps 1-4 into a 1- to 2-page outline (bulleted topics or sentences) depicting the nonprofit’s efforts to align with its mission and apply systems principles to address the issue identified in Step 1. Include the change matrix table you developed in Step 3. Consider the following questions for a “Conclusion” section: How does your work reflect content from the module readings? What roles and responsibilities are most important for board members and staff in addressing the issue? What challenges might board members and staff face in applying systems principles to the issue? How might these challenges be addressed? Step 6. Solicit Feedback Consider soliciting feedback on your outline from your contact with the organization and incorporate the feedback into your work. Step 7. Submit Submit an APA-formatted title page, your outline, and a reference page.