What we’re really saying is “I want to experience the
benefits of change without experiencing the disruption of change.”
And, who wouldn’t?
When confronted with the reality
that achieving what we desire requires more changes than we are ready or
willing to make, we often choose the status quo.
I’ve had many projects launched on
a giant wave of unrealistic expectations about how much better life will be
once the change is implemented, only to come crashing down when the reality of
the impact of changes required to realize the expected benefits becomes known.
My most memorable experience was a
CRM implementation with a large international telecom. The SVP of Marketing was
the project sponsor and a strong advocate of change. He did an amazing job of selling
the benefits and achieving buy-in from the other SVPs on the Executive Steering
Committee, who were initially resistant.
His support quickly turned to resistance,
however, the day I reviewed the results of the change impact analysis which confirmed
that the most significant change would occur in his area. In the blink of an
eye, his enthusiasm over the anticipated benefits was overshadowed by the reality
of the changes his organize would need to make to experience those benefits.
His transformation from an advocate
to resistor was swift. He adamantly stated: “there’s no way my organization
will tolerate that much change.” The benefits he was once so passionate about
didn’t seem so beneficial after all. He was ready to pull the plug on the
project because he wasn’t ready to make the necessary changes.
It was fascinating to observe how
quickly the original resistors became advocates and the original advocate
became a resistor.
The support he had so skillfully
built among the other leaders was strong enough to persuade him to continue
moving forward with the project, but in a different way. Taking off the rose
colored glasses made it possible to design a phased approach that ensured the
organization was ready, willing and able to make the changes they would be
asked to make.
So what did I learn from this
experience that may also be beneficial to you?
- We often set ourselves up for failure by not honestly looking at the magnitude of change required to realize the benefits we desire. This is especially true of “out-of-the-box” technology implementations where the cost of the subsequent organizational changes often isn’t understood or included in the process of making the decision to buy the technology.
- Improvements won’t happen without something changing. The key is to align your expectations with the amount of change you are ready, willing and able to make. Otherwise, your disappointment at not achieving the result you desired will make you more resistant to attempting other changes – and things will never get better. If you’re not continually improving in today’s competitive environment, you will be left behind.
- Nothing changes unless behavior supports the change. Your words may say you want change but if your behavior says you don’t, you’ll stay stuck. The members of the Executive Steering Committee could have easily decided to take a step back, put the project on hold or give it more thought – words we often hear when the leadership of an organization isn’t ready to implement change. This group didn’t. Their decision to move forward – but in a phased approach rather than a “big bang” – showed that they were willing to make the changes required.
- Peer pressure is more powerful than anything a consultant could possibly say or do. The other SVPs on the Steering Committee had more influence over the sponsor than I did. It was important that they agreed to move forward for their reasons and not for any I could come up with. Sometimes silence is a consultant’s most effective skill.
- Validating agreements as new information becomes available is a critical component of successful change. We obtained agreement in the beginning to launch the project. When the magnitude of the change impact became known, we had to revalidate the commitment to move forward. Otherwise we would hear “this is not what I agreed to.”
Is change disruptive? Of course it
is – if you’re not prepared for the impact nor convinced the benefits you will
realize will be worth the temporary disruption you may experience.
Success is hearing your employees
say, the day after implementation, “that wasn’t so bad after all.” And, then
six weeks later saying “I can’t believe we ever did it any other way,” instead
of “this is not what I expected.”
