How to build a culture of change at a time when change is constantly needed

Alberta's Ministry of Communication and Public Engagement faced a critical need to shift from a decentralized to a centralized operational model during the COVID-19 pandemic, a change that could not be mandated but required cultural embedding. Historically, communication professionals were embedded within specific client ministries like Justice, Public Safety, and Education, a structure that fostered a culture of fierce independence among executives. This decentralized approach, while serving individual ministry needs for a period, proved untenable when rapid resource deployment became essential for crisis management. The pandemic highlighted the necessity for centralized control to effectively address urgent, evolving situations, a stark contrast to the established operational norms. The leadership team recognized that the organization's pride in its independent structure was a significant barrier to adopting the required agility. This situation exemplifies the challenge organizations face in adapting to unprecedented disruption, where events, rather than strategic planning alone, dictate priorities and necessitate swift, large-scale behavioral shifts within days or even hours. The ministry's experience underscores the difficulty of transforming deeply ingrained organizational cultures to meet the demands of a volatile environment, where traditional strategic change management approaches are often too slow.