“While many organizations have held whole system change meetings, and while those

meetings have reportedly had a positive effect on business processes and results, few
consultants seem prepared to support an organization through major change, start to finish,
addressing the organization’s different components in a coordinated fashion.”

Merger Mayhem Leads to

Whole System Change

By Sherene Zolno The consolidation of four mental health work together, and with cultural clashes
services providers under one umbrella occurring on the front lines, stemming
led the board and leadership of the newly from the diversity of values and styles of
merged organization, First Health, a the merging organizations, First Health’s
pseudonym for an actual organization, leaders understood that a large-scale,
to seek assistance in designing and system-wide planned change was needed.
implementing a whole system change Working with a consulting team from
process. This article details the The Leading Clinic of nearby Vashon,
components of that process and the results Washington, they designed and engaged
First Health was able to achieve. in a process to link: 1) a practical approach
to increasing organization effectiveness;
A Merger Turns Their World 2) a program of leadership development
Upside-Down designed to build a cadre of leaders with
the capacity to catalyze the hoped for
First Health, an 800-employee, non- change; and 3) in-depth coaching to extend
profit mental healthcare provider in the leadership and responsibility throughout
region north of Seattle, Washington, the organization and the community. In
was actually created as a result of two the 12-month period that followed, guided
rounds of mergers. Minimal planning by their consultants, the stakeholders
preceded the first, that had occurred over of First Health created a new strategic
a year previously, and was a merger of a intention and learned how to translate it
non-profit organization with a for-profit into everyday practice. In addition, staff,
organization. Still reeling from that board members and volunteers came
debacle and desperately struggling to meet together in a series of meetings and
its responsibilities, the new company was educational sessions to begin to resolve
merging with two more mental healthcare their differences and build commitment to
providers. Achieving their mission to heal their new vision.
the lives of children, families and adults
in their community seemed a daunting, First Community Meeting
perhaps even an impossible, task in an
environment of exploding population The largest room in town could only hold
growth, increasing diversity, complexity, 300, so that’s how many people came
and demand for services. With dwindling together. Managers, employees, board
resources from funding agencies and members, community patient advocates
decreasing government support, with and representatives of government
rising patient advocacy and questions funding and regulatory agencies filled
about appropriate levels of staffing and every table for the three-day meeting.
service, with a too large new board of Called the “Action Transformation
directors unsure of how to effectively Conference,” (the AT Conference)

26 OD PRACTITIONER Vol. 38 No. 3 2006

 FIGURE 1: The Field Assessment
System

this gathering marked the end of an building across functions and levels in an
eight-month developmental period organization, as well as with customers,
for First Health, its leaders, managers vendors and community stakeholder Style
and employees, and the beginning of a groups, enhanced cooperation is an
time focusing on aligning policies and expected outcome of most whole system
procedures with their newly crafted change meetings.
strategic intention. First Health would be A whole system change process,
a catalyst for creating communities abundant on the other hand, is the integrated, Strategy Structure
with healthy, caring relationships through all system-wide, usually long-term, large-
stages of life. scale intervention that is designed to
The AT Conference was an exciting, address the challenge of changing a
energizing gathering. New partnerships complex organization, and ensuring that
were forged and important agreements the change is sustained. As consultants
about the future reached. First Health’s and researchers, most of us are familiar and systematically improved or changed
core values and core competencies – the with the change process that doesn’t last (planned, coordinated change to affect the
platform from which the organization – kicked off with a fanfare and large scale system-as-a-whole).
would launch its efforts to achieve its vision event (usually a whole system meeting),
of the future – were clarified and used to followed by a short period of organizational The Field Assessment System model
inform the discussion about what First focus, then forgotten as the business crises illustrated the interconnectedness of
Health’s vision of the future needed to be. of the day draw away the leaders’ attention. elements that defined the organization.
One table group envisioned the A well-designed whole system change Using the model, First Health was asked
organization in the year 2008 by saying, process guides an organization as it to think of each of the three frames as a
“People feel proud to say they work considers and makes changes in multiple window through which to gaze into the
here. It’s an honor – a great place to be.” aspects of its system concurrently in order organization’s life. The goal of this analysis,
The process of getting to that point had to achieve a critical mass of change, and to understand the organization as a system
required system-wide commitment to and thus the potential for truly sustainable with interrelating parts, required gathering
participation in a multi-faceted, planned change. While many organizations have information about the organization in each
systemic change process – a true whole held whole system change meetings, and of the three Frames:
system change effort. while those meetings have reportedly had
a positive effect on business processes and The STYLE Frame
Whole System Change: results, few consultants seem prepared to The Style Frame is focused on assessing
Core Distinctions support an organization through major an organization based on the cohesiveness
change, start to finish, addressing the of its culture and the strength of its shared
Organizations sometimes must organization’s different components in a values.
integrate demands from a wide range of coordinated fashion. This ability to guide
stakeholders and make changes in their whole system change – systematically The STRATEGY Frame
core processes, strategies and methods of – makes the 12-month structured process The Strategy Frame focuses one’s view
doing business. A whole system change followed by First Health a unique and on the organization’s vision, mission (or
meeting is used when high levels of important model for others considering purpose) and its intentions.
participation and cooperation are required how to guide and sustain large-scale
to accomplish the needed changes. Usually change. The STRUCTURE Frame
all stakeholders or a significant number of The Structure Frame concerns one
their representatives attend the meeting The Field Assessment Model with viewing and understanding the
and use max-mix discussion groups that organization by assessing how it aligns
span normal organization boundaries. Assessing themselves as an organization its goals, formal roles, systems and
A whole system change meeting and coming to understand their system technology, i.e., the organization’s methods
may be used to launch a change process, fully provided First Health with the plat- for deploying its human and other
marking the end of old and the beginning form they needed for launching their whole resources in achieving its purpose and
of new approaches in organizational system change process. To accomplish intention.
functioning. The capacity to bring this, First Health used The Field
large numbers of people together in Assessment System model (see Figure 1), a To be effective, an organization (the
a participatory process often enables comprehensive model designed to expand “field”) must have a high degree of fit,
change to occur rapidly. Because it thinking about how organizations can be or internal alignment among these three
affords opportunities for relationship systemically viewed (system-as-a-whole), Frames. What goes on in each Frame must

Merger Mayhem Leads to Whole System Change 27

be consistent with and reinforce what is To guide the transformational change help them get through and even heal from
going on in the others. Thus, to improve process, a “LeadTeam” was chartered, these difficult times.
an organization, one would have to pay composed of representatives of all The resulting question for inquiry was
attention to all of the Frames at the same organizational levels and key departments. stated as follows:
time, giving you a truly systemic way of LeadTeam members were asked to focus on
seeing the parts and how they are adding the entire system, rather than on the pieces Preamble, Valuing Employees:
up to the whole. they faced operationally day-to-day. To do To heal the past and build a new future
To change a system, the intervention this they were given the leadership tools for together, it is essential for each of us to tell
must be designed to impact all understanding, supporting and sustaining our story of struggle, pain and challenges
three Frames concurrently or nearly change. overcome, and to receive in return the
concurrently. same generous listening we extend in
Theoretically, all three Frames are Igniting Change by Engaging our best work with our clients. With
interrelated – there is no starting point or the Stakeholders: our feelings and needs acknowledged,
implied hierarchy – so a change in one Whole System Change Meetings and through the sense of strength and
would have a ripple effect on all others. It capability that comes from having each
would be impossible, therefore, to make a person’s contribution valued, respected
change in one area of organizational life The high white walls of the Elks Club and utilized, our organization can flourish.
(by changing the organization’s strategy, were plastered with positive quotes in Then, as employees of First Health, we can
for example) without having an effect on huge, colorful banners when 100 of First truly create an organization that is making
all other areas. Learning this, First Health’s Health’s managers and supervisors arrived a difference in the world.
leaders realized that creating an entirely for the Appreciative Inquiry component
new organization out of the merged four, of the whole system change process. Inquiry:
was not just a matter of devising a new This one-day meeting, co-facilitated with Please tell me a story of when you felt
strategy, restructuring various internal David Cooperrider, co-developer of the honored, listened to and valued as an
systems, or of changing management style, Appreciative Inquiry concept, initiated employee and how that enabled you to go
but of doing all three at the same time in a a process of inquiry into the strengths outside of your own usual boundaries to
coordinated manner. and core competencies of First Health. make a special contribution.
Scattered out among the tables sat the 30 How can we at First Health be even
Twelve-Month Commitment LeadTeam members, who were planning better at listening to one another and
to share their own learning as a way of healing ourselves, so we can be open to an
The board and leaders of First Health contributing to the success of the day. enriching, new future together?
committed to a year – twelve months A particularly important moment
of analysis and learning, of meetings, came when one woman stood and spoke Ultimately three topics for organization-
seminars, process alignment conversations movingly and angrily about how painful it wide inquiry were chosen: teamwork,
and whole system conferences. They was to be a manager at First Health at that quality care and service and valuing
promised to bring the entire organization time – to be the one bearing to her staff employees. Not only employees, but
together in different group sizes and the negative messages of job insecurity clients, patients and other stakeholders
configurations, to identify their limitations and diminishing resources available to get participated in the interviews. The resulting
and reframe them, to figure out how to the job done that had been coming from data that was gathered was used in the AT
access new levels of productivity, to begin the board and the leadership group. Even Conference as the basis for defining First
creating provocative ideas about their though she was supposed to heal others, Health’s core values and competencies.
future, and to generate new strategies for who was going to care about healing her, As First Health communicated to
positively impacting their environment. she wondered. all stakeholders in their “Recipe for the
These components were co-created, In response, Dr. Cooperrider Future,”
organized and delivered over the one-year legitimized her concerns by suggesting that “Put all the ingredients in one
period. she work with others at her table to develop large room. Add a generous amount of
Prior to engaging in the two whole this inquiry into a topic for organization- participant questions and discussion. Mix
system change meetings, off-site meetings wide inquiry. By putting hers (and others’) in possibilities, creativity and dreams.
were held for members of the Board to negative experience into the context Bake in the clouds for half a day, in the
align their support for the change process. of an inquiry into the strengths of the rain for a full day, and in the sun for half a
Representatives of the Board, as liaisons organization, a transformation occurred as day,” and the outcome is “5 Core Values; 5
but also as stakeholders, participated in it became clear that being healers was one Core Competencies; 1 Strategic Intention;
leadership development and in other of the core competencies of First Health’s 22 Next Step Action Plans; and abundant
components of the process. employees. They might use that strength to caring, working relationships.”

28 OD PRACTITIONER Vol. 38 No. 3 2006

 Sherene Zolno, M.S., is a
researcher, educator and
consultant whose expertise
A copy of this recipe was mailed to all leadership development session was
employees with a package of yeast labeled, on shifting leadership identity and skill includes working with leadership
“First Health Catalysts: Take this yeast and building, each session allowed participants teams to ready them for the
bake bread together. Create a feast and time to dialogue on significant issues, future, and assisting organizations
share the spirit.” supporting the forging of a strong, shared in identifying strategic intentions
commitment to meeting the challenges of and transforming culture. She
Sustaining the Change: leading the organization.
leads the Coaching and Consulting
Aligning Action with Intention. In one session, the CEO had to leave
early to present First Health’s funding in Organizational Systems track
Eight months had passed – with nearly 200 request to a particularly hard-nosed public (fall), for the Graduate School
interviews of employees and stakeholders agency. When learning of their CEO’s of Applied Behavioral Sciences
conducted, with an investment in intention to leave, instead of getting upset at Bastyr University/LIOS
many days of leadership training and that he wasn’t meeting his commitment (Leadership Institute of Seattle).
development for board members, the to be present for every day of the training,
Sherene can be reached at
leadership team, managers and employees, the program participants utilized the time
and with more than two months of before he had to leave to coach him on how szolno@proactionassociates.com.
planning, preparation and implementation he might best enroll the funding agency’s
of the AT Conference, First Health arrived staff in what First Health was trying to
at the final component of the whole system accomplish. References
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on a commitment to develop leadership
at all levels. While the focus of each

Copyright © 2006 by the Organization Development Network, Inc. All rights reserved. Merger Mayhem Leads to Whole System Change 29