The latest change programme seems to be a fact of life for most employees of large companies. Every few months there seems to be another announcement, another mug, poster, newsletter, webpage as part of that integrated communications initiative for ‘X’ change management programme. In general there are two or three such change programmes running in parallel – all fighting for attention and mindshare.
It’s an unfortunate fact that around 70-80% of change programmes fail in their aims.
For programmes which are presented as so vitally important for the future of the company, you would expect such failure to be viewed as a disaster, with deep and penetrating questions being asked about why, the consequences and how the effects can be mitigated. Strangely this doesn’t tend to happen. What does happen is another change programme, usually in a related but noticeably different direction. Often the company does continue to operate; nothing comes crashing down.
Change and development IS vital for any company. 20/20 hindsight has shown that most failures in business are as a result of an inability of the organisation to adapt to changes in the outside world, or ways of doing business internally. Often the metaphor of the lumbering dinosaur is bought into play, and not without some validity. Such organisations ‘feel’ slow, dusty, disconnected, content. Culturally they are miles from the ‘feel’ of the new, innovative startup.
In part the approach to change is to blame. The idea of change isn’t something done to the organisation, its something done by the organisation. The innovative startup doesn’t have to consider implementing a change programme – they head in the best direction they can conceive of at the time, pulling themselves towards better ideas by instinct not dictate.
Key to larger organisations performing better in this area is the well known truism that change isn’t an A to B process, its an ongoing attitude and state of mind. So often that statement is made, and so often it’s ignored by most. Rather than being the norm, change is seen as an adhoc, one time activity. The whole idea of a specific change programme implies something outside the norm.
While it’s not possible to instil the same agility and change-comfortable culture of the startup in the large organisation – it is possible to improve and instil a better attitude and approach to change. The way the organisation does business is embodied in its processes, its organisational structure and its metrics. If change is an integral part of the organisation, then it should have no less a position in its mindset.
Change needs to be managed, planned and integrated into normal business. Above all, its attitude to change as something that goes from A to B needs to move to something that never stops, never ends, and continually helps to deliver corporate aims. In essence change needs an organisational structure that takes a ‘benefits led’ view of why its needed, what the most effective way of bringing it about is, and then supports implementation as an ongoing task. Such an organisational approach would itself need to deliver on targets, show benefit and enhance its offerings. It would need to be seen as a real solution to needs, but also have the ability to limit the level and timing of change to periods when it can be accepted by the organisation.
Above all, it would need to take a whole system view of changes and organisational evolution, integrating and connecting new approaches in the context of the whole organisation. It would maintain a model of the organisation, its beliefs, behaviours, and breakpoints; predicting ahead of time the effect of new ideas and the best ‘roadmap’ for the organisation to travel.
I’ve never seen that done; have you?
