Leading large scale change
Find out about Helen Bevan’s latest thinking on what influences successful transformational change.
What influences successful transformational change? (664.50 KB)
Leading large scale change: A practical guide
This guide tells a story, that of the NHS Academy for Large Scale Change (the Academy). The Academy ran for 18 months, providing learning for 80 leaders from the English National Health Service and its partner organisations on how to lead and accelerate change across a large, complex system. Those who took part in the Academy were trying to accomplish a mission (large scale change) in very challenging external circumstances, within which they appeared to have little control.
The hypothesis underpinning the Academy was that, in order to achieve strategic goals, leaders need a grounded theory (or ‘map’) of large scale change. However, we are not talking about a prescriptive blueprint or programme plan. Rather it is an overall model or framework that enables emergent planning and design, as the change process unfolds and the consequences of actions become clear. This premise is supported by evidence from the wider literature on change which suggests that leaders who want wide scale and rapid change are more likely to be successful in their efforts if they work with an explicit model or theory of large scale change. Recent research on endeavours to simultaneously create a culture of patient safety across hospital systems in several countries concluded that one of the reasons that some of the anticipated results were not achieved was because ambitions for organisation-wide change were not underpinned by an organisation-wide theory of large scale change.
For NHS England customers, please follow this link to order your copy of Leading large scale change: A practical guide . Please note the cost of this guide is £18.99 (inc p&p) to NHS England.
For customers not part of NHS England, this item is available through the Worldwide Bookshop. Please follow this link where the cost will be £15.99 (plus p&p).
More resources to complement the guide can be found by following this link.
We set up the Academy for Large Scale Change, the first of its kind in the world. The Academy supported NHS leaders at regional and national level to create the conditions needed to deliver large scale change in their local environment as they lead ground breaking transformation in the health service in England. Demand for places was extremely high so we had had to limit the membership to around 80 of the most senior executives in NHS England and the Department of Health.
The Academy Director was Paul Plsek, an international authority on large scale change in healthcare. Paul was supported by a small team of coaches who each have an international reputation in large scale change. The Academy programme started in October 2008 and ran until November 2009. It provided a world class experiential learning opportunity for participants as they put their individual strategic goals into action in their local areas of responsibility.
More resources to complement the guide can be found by following this link.
