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December 2017 • The PCB Magazine 75 Refreeze. This model explains organizational change by using the analogy of changing the shape of a block of ice (Figure 3). Visualizing change as a process with distinct stages will al- low organizational leaders to prepare for what is coming and develop a plan to manage the tran- sition. One of the major reasons change fails is that organizations rush into change blindly and without a plan to effectively manage change. Stage 1: Unfreeze The critical task during the first stage is to establish an environment that challenges the current norms and set the stage for change to occur. The goal is to move people from the cur- rent frozen state to a change-ready or unfro- zen state. The unfreeze stage is important to be- ginning to break down barriers to change and move away from the "we have always done it this way" mentality. Stage 2: Change During this transitional stage, people are aware that the old ways are being challenged, but at this point there may be no clear under- standing of the new ways which will replace them. Care must be taken to keep fear of the unknown from paralyzing the effort, and strong leadership during this phase will be the differ- ence between success and failure. The goal of this stage is to get, and keep, peo- ple in the unfrozen state while es- tablishing new ways and norms. Convincing people that it is okay to break away from traditional norms and adopt new ways of do- ing things is crucial before mov- ing into the refreeze stage. Stage 3: Refreeze This goal of this stage is all about reconnecting people to their new comfort zones and es- tablishing this state as the safe, familiar environment. Refreez- ing seeks to reinforce the new be- haviors and enable permanent change through rewards, celebra- tion of each success, and continu- ous communication. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate When it comes to changing the culture of a company, there is no such thing as over-com- munication. Involving the entire workforce from day one will be key to successfully change the current culture. Secrecy is the enemy of suc- cess; this process calls for full disclosure, em- ployee participation and individual empower- ment. Effective communication will allow the cre- ation of a type of controlled mayhem; in oth- er words, an environment which can build a strong motivation to seek out a new equilib- rium. Without this motivation, it will be dif- ficult to get the employee buy-in that will be required to facilitate any meaningful and per- manent change. This journey will be an emo- tional one that will challenge the status quo, oftentimes evoking strong reactions and resis- tance (remember the human nature thing?). As overused as the word paradigm is, I don't have a better word for describing "the way things are done," and this will be a paradigm shift that can only be overcome with effective, thorough and constant communication. Change is Constant The Greek philosopher Heraclitus had it right 2,500 years ago: The only thing constant CULTURE SHIFT IS KEY TO QUALITY IMPROVEMENT