I was on conference call today and someone noted,
“I am still at the point where I’m trying to convince people that change management is necessary, let alone which model to use. Leadership’s response to our request for time to help manage the change was: this change is going ahead no matter what, so we don’t need change management.”
My response to this question is that we as change practitioners should not even try to convince people that change management is necessary. Change management is a means to an end. Change management is a set of tools and practices and frankly your management team likely doesn’t give a damn about the tools and practices. They care about the end result. To use an analogy, organizations don’t care about project management, they care about shipping projects on time, managing resources, staying within budget, and delivering products and services that meet customers’ needs so much so that they are willing to pay for those products and services. The same thing holds true for change management.
If you are aligned on the goals, objectives, and end result of the change, the how is less important. Granted, mature, fine tuned organizations recognize that how you achieve the end result reduces thrashing, fosters employee commitment, and increases productivity. Those organizations already understand the value of powerful tools and practices. If you’re not in an organization like that, don’t talk tools and practices, talk goals, objectives, and results and you’ll be able to have the necessary conversation with your leadership team about what it takes to be successful in implementing change.
Workshop Update
space
I’m headed to Seattle and Washington D.C. in June to facilitate Lead Change by Design workshops. In partnership with Holger Nauheimer, CEO of Change Facilitation s.r.o., we will facilitate two-day workshops that provide an innovate, fresh perspective in the world of leading change. Check it out and join us!
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Good post. "This change is going ahead no matter what, so we don’t need change management.” If this is how leaders are responding, they're not even in the same conversation as the practitioner. And that's the key… having the right conversation… As practitioners, we need to resist talking about tools and best practices and move the conversation to the same place senior leaders want to go — end results. It should never be about convincing someone that time is needed for change management… it's about convincing them that results are unlikely without doing those 'critical things' that happen to fall within the scope of change management… Just look at how many initiatives fail. And when they say, "that won't happen to us; we're different", you can reply with "in this regard… sadly, we're not."
Hi Kevin,
Welcome to RIVERFORK and thanks for the comments! You're the leader of Accreon’s Center for Change Leadership. Very cool. Would love to connect with you some time. I tried to find the web site for the Center for Change Leadership and could not find one. Please point me in the correct direction. Thanks again for your comments and support.
Cheers!
Melissa http://twitter.com/riverfork
Hi Melissa,
Wow, the great posts and topics just keep on comin' – thank you! I largely agree with you here: Change Management/Facilitation is all about driving results. But here's the big secret – OK, maybe not so much – it also can make a big difference in how Change is *experienced" and that can make all the difference in productivity, employee engagement/retention, customer experience/Sales, etc. I realize we Change Guides have to sell the Results piece in the foreground but in the not so distant background is the undeniable truth: if Change isn't implemented well, it won't "stick" and/or it will be resented, with all kinds of fall-out. Designed Change, with many mehtodologies to choose from, gives employers and teams the opportunity to make Change really work; for themselves, their company and their customers and partners, generally leveraging lots of great talent, skills and attitudes/approaches. – Doesn't that really make the most $en$e?
Thanks,
– Lucie
Hi Lucie,
I completely agree that the results piece is pointless without excellent execution. My point is that trying to convince people of the value of change management is also pointless. Most people don't care about change management. What they care about is achieving results. Our role as change guides it to talk with them about the results and what it's going to take to achieve those results (which we know includes change management but that doesn't mean we lead with that business jargon). It's a waste of time to convince someone of the value of change management. What's useful is to have a real conversation about what their goals are and how to achieve them – the what and how.
Thanks,
Melissa
Thanks, Melissa, for your response and the chance to surface a slight disconnect. I was actually speaking to the need for Change Guides to be mindful of Process even as we focus on Results; I was not referring to execution per se, but more about the holistic approach you advocate in Lead by Design; if we make folks feel like cogs in a Change machine, we might sacrifice long-term wins for apparent short-term gains, if even those.
However, to your recent point, this is only relevant as a background conversation once we get in the door; to do that generally requires relentless focus on Results, especially in times of constraint; the What and the How, and the Opportunity Cost of not doing so (i.e., the statics you often cite re: the high rates of failed Change initiatives).
Thanks for the chance to clarify and dialogue. Posts like yours really help move our field into the Business arena; paradoxically, without the Business jargon and distinct from the "how many people does it take…?" dabbling.
- Lucie
Hi Melissa!
This is really the challenge today within the field of Management generally: that practitioners and scholars alike must realise that any management that does not have as its endpoint of enterprise activity, the achievement of a goal, is a pointless and needless adventure and probably underscores the number of failed organisations that dot the terrains today.
'Change management' of mere activities, programs or projects without space for proper planning , organising, directing, controlling etc. which are the hallmarks of management amounts to a waste of resources.
Humanity at this point in time is waiting for Change, which in any case is the only permanent phenomenon garbed in today's ever iterative dynamic world. Only those 'who can' would be 'garlanded 'as the true change agents.
Abel D. Ochigbo
Hi Abel,
Thanks for your comments. You're right on.
Cheers~
Melissa
Hi Abel,
Thanks for your comments. You're right on.
Cheers~
Melissa
Hi Abel,
Thanks for your comments. You're right on.
Cheers~
Melissa