Our Blog: "The LAST Word on Change"

Basis of Business & Technology Change Management Failure

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As we have taught for years, change is so much more than “implementation.”  A recent Wall Street Journal blog post (see link below) by b-school professors Albert H. Segars and Dave Chatterjee document the reasons behind the monumental failures experienced by companies who have deployed Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects—each typically costing over $100mm to purchase and implement, many resulting in years of untold re-work and skyrocketed consulting fees. 

In their overview, they discuss how many of these initiatives are merely embraced as technology changes.  Regardless of how you've positioned your technology-based changes, our research on the factors that distinguish change success from change failure revealed the critical nature of including a strong, objective ability to listen to how your change initiative or new strategy are actually perceived by stakeholders. 

Too often, the purpose, benefits, or details and meaning of change is communicated by (a) Telling others (1-way communication that only stokes further resistance to change); and/or (b) Using narrow and overly structured methods for 2-way communication (e.g., asking for objections in formal meetings, asking closed-end (yes/no) questions to secure support, and relying on surveys or queries constructed by the “in-groups” of change agents (e.g., their own team, paid consultants, etc.).  Even worse, communications (no matter how well crafted or intended) tend to come from an adversarial bent framed by regarding others as “change resistors.” 

Real change leadership requires constant and open listening.

Also, pay particular attention to the first and foremost reason the WSJ authors cite for the failure of these promising, but costly (and often failing) deployments of technology:  The failure to (do what it takes to) “Embrace the New.”  As their details point out, it is often as important to communicate what to stop doing—in addition to communicating about new practices look like and how they benefit work achievement.

For more insight on the forms of leadership required to optimize change management success, click on this link to preview our forthcoming book, The LAST Word on Change_TM, where we outline the ways in which much of the advice of gurus, b-schools, and the disciplines of Organizational Change Management can be costly and distractive:

http://www.lastwordonchange.com/our-new-book-on-change-management/

Here's the WSJ link to article on ERP failures: 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703514404574588060852535906.html?KEYWORDS=diets+that+don%27t+work

Our best to you as fellow Change Leaders!