Our Blog: "The LAST Word on Change"

Where EXACTLY Change Management Delivers Value

We are deluged with references to the woeful success rate for business transformation and change (perhaps 30% at best).  Well, of course, driven leaders are not about to back down from a challenge—particularly in companies and industries where large-scale transformation is not “optional.”  It is a rare change initiative that delivers or exceeds all of the promise outlined in related business plans. 

Remember, the goal of such an initiative is to fundamentally transform the performance trajectory of the company—not produce (a) Some marginal ROI based on an ability to cover (woefully underestimated) acquisition and implementation costs, or (b) Support some lame rationalization to the Board of Directors that, “Well, while we didn’t hit all the numbers in our business case we presented to you, the company is certainly much, much further along and more capable in this area than before we undertook this huge initiative.”

Change Leaders that successfully drive transformative results have a demonstrated understanding of one of the most critical change dynamics that separates change initiative success from failure—fostering an understanding and commitment to widespread ADOPTION…not simply IMPLEMENTATION. 

"Dollar ONE” of benefits from your transformation and change initiative will not flow until you drive adoption of new practice.  This means actually utilizing the new technology and growing business as a result, versus clinging to old practice or introducing “work-arounds” that link to the old practice that may very well have helped me meet my monthly quota, but fails to grow new business. 

Value grows as each new player adopts the new practice.  Until there is widespread adoption, the new practice and the related change efforts focused on implementation are a weight around the neck of the organization.  You cannot say the new “system” is paid for until enough people have adopted related practice—widespread adoption is EXACTLY how benefits come to overtake implementation costs.  The ONLY financial and market “leverage” created by a change initiative lies in ADOPTION.

EVERY weak link in the chain that fails to adopt new practices (and equally important—drop old, now distractive practices and “habits”) makes the prospect of “Opportunity Cost” very real—blowing ROI (each unattained dollar of projected value weighing down the observed outcomes—or worse, actually introducing negative pull on the ROI by obstructing others from achieving the benefits of new practice because they are taking/supporting conflicting actions).

Here’s a simple, non-business analogy for what happens when business change moves forward by all traditional measures, but fails to deliver transformational results:  A rowing crew is making better times after a new rowing stroke technique is installed so that all 20 paddle-heads enter the water more smoothly without sacrificing power.  Since the training, 4/10 crew members, still doubting the new method, revert to old form.  As a result, the paddle-heads enter more smoothly overall, but many are not in synch with the others—hence, the crew achieves slightly better clock times, but fails to improve their standing relative to more competitive crews. 

Note that the completion of the project (training) and some measureable change was observed and recorded, but this was not sufficient to achieve a transformational result.

So, how do you recognize and drive a strong focus on ADOPTION of new practice (going the full mile…going beyond implementation)?

__Adoption is measured in one way only—utilization.  Key metrics must go beyond percent of applications installed, minimized “resistance,” concerns raised and addressed, and performance relative to plan completion to focus on, e.g.,

*Percentage of end-users with access who are using the new practice (as implemented);

*A ratio describing the percentage of time the new practice versus old (others), including any lip service that results in work-arounds;

*Percentage of users/units wherein the old practice has become NON-existent (zero utilization of alternatives);

*Percentage of all revenue and “new revenue” (as seen in increased share, account penetration, or dollars per order/sale); and

*Decreases in cost-of-sales attributable to the new practice.

(Performance on each metric must be compared to an agreed-upon goal, increasing in level month-by-month).

__Install a key metric that provides a leading indicator of adoption—e.g., clarity and utilization of new roles, goals, and individual measures of success aligned with these larger utilization outputs.

__Avoid the traps set by Organizational Change Management and related authors/consultants that mistakenly place 80% of the focus and energy on supportive activity  (see our related blog post on “The 5 Ways OCM is Incomplete”).

(Our own research has demonstrated that the greatest, measureable outcome of OCM application is a dramatic increase in training hours and consulting dollars—often a “necessary but insufficient” factor in achieving the value-driving outcomes sought in transformational change.)

__Hold Change Sponsors & the Change Team accountable (e.g., through reporting and communications) to statements of measured ADOPTION—not just activity, not installations, and most certainly not any measure of completeness marked by the percentage of steps completed or the number of units installed, or the process of “switching on the new application/practice and ‘hanging about’ for a while to make sure it works.”

__Quash any dismissal by the change team or solution providers of critical feedback or any signs that others (resistors) or circumstances (outside their control?), are suppressing the adoption and utilization of their wonderful, flawlessly executed (“installed”) solution.

(This is perhaps the most critical sign of change AND organizational leadership dysfunction (two forms of rationalization--blame/alibi and acceptance of such, respectfully) and a proven “leading indicator” of change failure. 

Management teams, a conscientious consultant, and Boards of Directors who flag such blame and rationalizations as they occur, particularly early in the implementation phase and hold leaders’ feet to the fire are often the difference between realizing transformation and rationalizing a marginal ROI.)

__Minimize the import placed on implementation by shifting the language for this step and related consulting, etc. to “INSTALLATION” (this helps any stakeholder who has tried to self-install a new home theater understand that the work is certainly not complete once the Best Buy truck leaves their driveway and they have a signal on their screen!)

__Keep consultants on the hook through adoption and demand measures of (even better…fees contingent upon) adoption.  Stray from any resource billing itself as an “implementation” consultant (e.g., an independent firm to whom you delegate the implementation of your new Enterprise Resource Management solution ala SAP/Oracle) unless you are literally using them for, and expecting no greater value than the act of installation (and paying them appropriately less in fees and a very small percentage of estimated costs in your larger Change Plan).  Where firms present themselves as an implementation partner or change management partner, demand that their responsibilities meet this higher standard (and that their fees are in part contingent on agreed measures of such).

DO YOU HAVE MORE IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO OPTIMIZE UTILIZATION AND ACCELERATE VALUE?  PLEASE JOIN THIS DISCUSSION BY ADDING A “COMMENT” BELOW!

Oh…and, THIS IS THE END OF “LAUNCH WEEK!”  I hope you have enjoyed our posts this week and will join our discussion weekly as you seek to be THE person who brings together execution and change for your company or your clients.

Please comment and share!

Subscribe now!

http://www.lastwordonchange.com/blog-on-change