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We have had “organizational change is complex” drilled into our heads now for years. That mantra is, of course, part truth and part “urban legend.” How so…? Well, most of us are familiar with how very real factors can ratchet up complexity quickly. When frustrated, we’d gladly give up the sexy scale of our big initiatives, the global or multi-division nature of our projects, demands to “phase-in” big things, and well…the need for everyone to buy into the change in exchange for a simple mandate and bracing for the complaints from the field.
Our research has revealed a powerful lever for reducing complexity. When identifying critical metrics for demonstrating progress and impact of your change initiative, find 1-2 ELEGANTLY SIMPLE MEASURES. These create shared understanding, focus effort, and communicate progress/impact.
Example: When I started my consulting business in a home office back in 1999, I had one primary goal that shaped my attention and effort: Be wearing a sport jacket or suit 3 or more times a week. This meant that I was in front of prospects and/or clients, delivering value frequently enough to generate acceptable account growth and financial outcomes.
Why was this ONE measure so powerful?
__It had a demonstrated track record as a Leading Indicator of Success. Good performance against this measure meant all the other, more detailed, mostly “lag” measures of success would follow.
__It focused action onto the things (e.g., introductions, exploratory meetings, reference-checking, Requests for Proposal, follow-up communications) that lead to billable activity.
__It was easy and fun to communicate (a bit of self-denigrating, aw-shucks-smarts ala Ted Turner as I would describe my goals to colleagues and business partners).
By contrast, change initiatives are marked by elaborate charts meant to illustrate “strategic alignment,” an entire “matrix of metrics,” and unclear priorities. The inclusion of consultants, solution vendors, and multiple internal stakeholders often results in adoption of even more measures. This is another way we tend to shoot ourselves in the foot as humans directing change—a well-intentioned effort to be thorough and smart (and liked) makes things painfully complex.
Inventory your own set of measures. Press yourself to identify ALL measures—you will probably identify 5-7 measures, but if I asked you to look at every project plan, report, and meeting, you’d find that the matrix of measures, formal and otherwise, has gotten frighteningly out of hand. Challenge yourself to think outside-the-box for alternatives. (CAUTION: measures like “OTOB” (on-time, on-budget) and “make money” (or attain a positive ROI) are off the table—those are lag measures and don’t foster “above expectations” achievement.)
Here are a few simple metrics that satisfy the characteristics of the “sport jacket goal” shared above:
*What percentage of end-users have adopted the new practice (adopted, not “installed”) AND demonstrate proficiency in real application (not training/simulation)?
*What percentage of stakeholder concerns tracked on our Issues Resolution Log are addressed to stakeholder satisfaction within 10 business days?
*Can all of our field sponsors and point people for the next phase articulate, in their own words (without a prompting from our team or reference to our tools) their role, goals, and critical success factors for the next 60 days?
These measures have that “simple elegance” AND serve as leading indicators. By contrast, reliance on “positive feedback” and project status reports has a proven ability to create the ILLUSION of ACCEPTANCE or PROGRESS. Many a change project has looked good on those lag measures, only to become a tree that fell in the woods. Remember, the goal of transformative change is to create breakthrough results—not project completion or creating a positive ROI by delivering just one dollar of value greater than the estimated project costs.
Learn More About Leading Indicators:
THE Leading Indicator of Change Management Success ™
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