I like learning from others’ mistakes.  It’s satisfying and it can save a lot of hassle.  It’s true that mistakes are part of the learning process but there’s no point in making avoidable mistakes.

Amusing examples of avoidable but tragic mistakes can be found in the Darwin Awards.  Just in case you have not come across these, they salute the improvement of the human gene pool by honouring those who remove themselves from it.  The awards go to individuals who have not really thought things through – such as the armed thief who attempted to rob a gun shop!

So, when Change Management programmes fail – and research shows that the majority do fail - are these avoidable or unavoidable mistakes?  To what extent is it a case of organisations assuming too much and not thinking the process through?

Well, there’s a great deal of literature available on change management - just try “Googling” the subject.  Given the amount that is known about change management, it could reasonably be argued that most of the failures are avoidable.

Just for the record, so that you can avoid them, here are some of the widely-known mistakes made with change management programmes:

·         leaders not engaging sufficiently

·         failing to create a strong enough consensus and momentum for change

·         under-communicating the vision

·         not creating short-term wins

·         lack of continuity - changing priorities, moving on to next “flavour of the month”

·         misreading progress, declaring victory too soon

·         neglecting to embed changes firmly in the corporate culture 

Enough of reasons for failure.  Quentin Jones and his colleagues at Human Synergistics Australia have identified a meta capability which they found to be critical to success.  They call it reflexivity, which they define as “the capacity to become aware of self in relation to others and the organisation”.  In practical terms, this means:

·         building self-awareness through feedback

·         creating a reality check through appreciating others’ viewpoints

·         organisation-wide monitoring of progress towards the preferred culture 

It sounds like common sense to me but, hey, there’s nothing common about sense as the Darwin Awards demonstrate again and again.

Mike West

www.novaconnection.com

It's a sad fact that the majority of change management programmes fail.  Organisations simply under-estimate what it takes.  Change management programmes rarely succeed if they are just the latest in a string of confusing initiatives.  Right, done that, here comes the next one!  A lot of us have seen and experienced that.

The problem with culture change is that it involves people.  And we've not yet found a way of applying software upgrades to the workforce.  But just imagine if, like Microsoft, we could have a monthly Patch Tuesday where all of the latest updates and hotfixes were applied.

In the real world culture change is about commitment, time and energy.  It's a big investment but the returns can be even greater.  More focus on achievement, less empire building and a greater willingness to take responsibility all have a positive impact on the bottom line.  And there is some excellent research on this which I will be writing about in a future blog.

It's certainly true that all members of an organisation have a responsibility in bringing about culture change, but the commitment of the leadership team is most important of all.  They have to be role models and evangelists, balancing the needs of people with getting the job done, keeping change high on the agenda and regularly measuring progress.

Back to the workforce, and this is why changing culture really is such a big ask.  For the culture to change, everyone in the organisation needs to alter their behaviours.  But for this to happen everyone needs to think differently and respond differently to people and situations.  That kind of change cannot be brought about by edict, software patches or even motivational posters.  And it certainly will not be achieved overnight.  It takes a great deal of commitment, hard work and investment.

Here are some suggestions for what is needed:

·         recognising that culture change is a big ask

·         decisive leaders who act as role models

·         effective two-way communications so that change can be top-down and bottom-up

·         a clear plan

·         regular measurement at organisation, team and individual level

It’s not an exhaustive list, but as Lao Tzu said, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Mike West

www.novaconnection.com