The following is another in a new series of columns that will provide answers to small business questions. The new question and answer column is written by Dr. Leonard Bertain, Ph.D., the president of The Bertain Consulting Group of Oakland, CA a consulting firm specializing in the improvement of business processes and business re-engineering. Dr. Bertain's book, "The New Turnaround", contains a fictionalized character known as "Dr. Elbie". Should you have a question regarding business management issues, write or fax them to Dr. Elbie, Bertain Consulting Group, 3758 Grand Ave., Suite 25, Oakland, CA 94611, phone (510) 653-6355 or lbertain@bertain.com Dear Dr. Elbie: I read your last column on the Quantum Leap and was intrigued by your concept of the metastable stage of transition for the organization. I think that is a new idea. And I like it. It makes sense. Do you have any additional thoughts? Curious in Boston. Dear Curious in Boston: Of course I do. I always have something to say. On this subject, I have lots to say. Our observation of this metastable state is new. But more than anything, it serves as a guiding principle of our management philosophy: managing for the metastable condition. In fact, we think that this observation of what happens when a company changes to a new paradigm is a major discovery. This discovery tells us this: if you wish to change a company to a new open systems (TQM) paradigm with employees highly involved in the decision making process and the originating paradigm is that of the closed, hierarchical type, the change will occur in two steps. The first step is the metastable state. It is metastable because it can return to the original state or it can survive long enough, in physics terms we say that it has a long enough half life, until it absorbs energy to take it to the next stable level. What are the characteristics of this state. First of all, it is highly charged. The organization has absorbed a lot of energy and the people We have talked in the past about the "Quantum Leap." This jump in energy is obtained when the organization absorbs energy during a change program and makes a jump to a new energy level as noted in the figure below. In our work with companies, we have found an interesting phenomenon, the absorption must take place in two steps to be effective and generate real change. There is an initial jump of the organization to a new level of energy. Energy has been absorbed and the company becomes more ordered. But this excited state is unstable. We have all seen it. A training program of some new zippy management concept is delivered. The company improves for a little while but quickly regresses to its previous state. In physics, we call that a metastable (unstable) state. The quantum leap is taken from a model of physics used to describe the workings of a laser, as noted in the figure: Now here is where the quantum leap occurs. As the CEO drives the organization change process, he/she pushes for action. This action drives the organization to a new energy level. The company absorbs energy and, according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, order is restored. When it reaches the new first metastable level of energy, the organization is now ready for additional change. When a new source of energy is supplied to the organization in this metastable state, the absorption of energy occurs more quickly. This is the quantum leap phenomenon. It is a quantum leap because it is a major change. It is not gradual. It occurs in weeks not years. The power of the "Quantum Leap" analogy is that it really mimics what happens in organizations. One of my Organizational Development colleagues uses a behavioral model to describe the process. In his model, you cannot move to the "Open" style of management, which is what we advocate, from the "Closed" hierarchical style without first passing through another organization paradigm. In his words, "You have to pass thru the interim step to get there." That is what the metastable state is. This organizational model is totally consistent with our "Quantum Leap" model. It is hoped that these concepts will give us a better understanding of what happens when we change an organization. We are excited because the end result makes our clients more profitable. And we think that is what this is all about. Dr. Elbie's Corner is copyrighted by Leonard Bertain, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998. Dr. Elbie's Corner is a monthly article published by the Bertain Consulting Group, in the CEO University Website @ Bertain.com or CEOU.com. This article is reprinted from September 1995.