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 – thinking that change can be "managed"
- reliance on tools, templates and method
- using inexperienced change agents
Middle of the organization change tends to draw clients and consultants into an exercise in creating "engagement".
If somebody likes to run they run. Good luck "engaging" someone who does not.
The core problem is that most organizations do not truly have OCM (Organizational Change Management) built into their corporate strategy. So "change engagement" tends to spend time addressing symptoms rather than root causes. "Un-engagement", lack of sponsorship and hit and miss buy-in are the cough, the sneeze and the runny nose.
This is a preview of 3 mistakes (client/consultant) of middle of the organization Change Management . Read the full post (218 words, 1 image, estimated 52 secs reading time)
A comment and a question I get at every cocktail party when my career is revealed-
That must be fascinating! (it is!)
Do you feel helpless most of the time? (yes but not for long)
My role is at times like the backup quarter back (when there is little chance for needed structural adjustment) and other times like a coach. A coach must stand on the sidelines and hope planning and description translates into strategy and action. They lead but they are not the true leader, the quarterback is. They must survey the big picture while others focus in on task. They work less as a team member than as a giant set of arms holding it all together.
Plan ahead for levels of growth by structuring your organization with a change component.
Each layer of growth in a firm typically adds a layer of titles; each new title has the potential to create a new silo. Eventually it becomes difficult to move the organization fast enough to grow again.
If from the first stage of growth someone is responsible for horizontal connections (collaboration, communication, training across functions, diagonal mentoring etc) your culture will build around working together on the companies business objectives.
This is a preview of Planning for Change from the Beginning- Change Management for fast growth companies . Read the full post (225 words, 1 image, estimated 54 secs reading time)
You do have one?
Placing an external change management resource high in an organization is incredibly powerful. Leveraging that power in a way that is honest and effective is an approach few C-level executives choose to use. I will make the assumption that this is a tool at the bottom of the box that you did not know you had.
This is what has happened when I have lived this role for a client-
The employees are shocked and surprised like a kid who gets two pieces of candy at the store instead of one.
This is a preview of C-level leverage of your Change Management Trusted Advisor . Read the full post (287 words, 1 image, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)
One drop on still water…
An expert change agent can tell you what will happen when you drop that drip in your organization. The drop can be an idea, a potential innovation or an external event. The drip can be old systems, overstaffing, economic downturn or falling revenue. The waves can be re-structuring, re-building, organizational redesign or potential growth opportunity, a hot product, a merger or an acquisition.
Change is so loaded with energy you can almost smell the flame.
What will you, along with your change practitioner need to do to start, contain, fuel and manage that fire?
Start-
Change can begin spontaneously from hidden sparks of energy, It can be the result of an external environmental influence, like a lightning bolt in nature. Or it can be a perfectly built campfire ready for a match to begin the controlled burn. Be aware of how change can, will and could start in your organization and take the steps to have resources and process to deal with the different catalysts for energy.
This is a preview of Energy- Fueling and Controlling the fire of Change . Read the full post (401 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)
Seeds can sprout from the concrete of the previous year.
Every year at this time I am both elated and hesitant. I am one of those people who makes Jan 1 a new start every year. Change management has taught me to be practical enough to know what is a pipe dream and what is reality/possibility. I find myself wondering, at about 2:00 pm on the first whether this day is any different than yesterday (you know LAST year).
Dandelions in a lawn can be beautiful, but is that what you intended? Change Management sprouting up all over your organization can be invigorating, but is that what you are looking for? An over-fertilized lawn looks lush and green, but is it healthy?
I have seen and heard, lately, of quite a lot of organizations who have change management processes, teams and mini-functions springing up like weeds on a spring day. Like dandelions that can be a beautiful sight to see, until you realize the competing perspectives and approaches are effecting your operations (that thick green lawn you should have been looking for).
This is a preview of Dandelions in the Lawn-Organic Change Management Design . Read the full post (341 words, 1 image, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)
My simple definition-
The process of moving an organization and its people to a different and better state.
A good change agent does this in a way that links the context of work to the bigger picture, enlivens the culture of the organization, makes the right lists for the right people and does so with an empathetic and business approach.
A really good change agent (here I am thinking exclusively external although with the right leverage and status it could be possible for an internal change agent) does all of the above while also improving operational efficiency, developing employees-especially future leaders and layering in a replicable process for the next corporate initiative.
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com/lean-solo/
Is an excellent post written by Katherine Radeka as a guest blogger on Alan Weiss’s Contrarian Consulting blog.
Not much needs to be added except that third parties too can cause the, “…non-value-added (waste)..”, that Katherine and Alan, in much of his writing, talk about.
I would add that many of the solo consultants out there have worked for the big firms while most of the leaders in the big firms have not been solo for any length of time (and it is quite the site to see them maneuver in this environment). So with “solo’s” you get a little two for one!
Permanent link to this post (105 words, estimated 25 secs reading time)
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– thinking that change can be "managed" 
