Having a great vision and plan is important, but the fact remains that most transformation efforts fail at the execution stage.  That’s because leaders often underestimate the magnitude of change; the need to fully engage the full organisation and the requirement for leadership focus and follow through with robust processes.

The negative effects of unsuccessful initiatives can be damaging for the organisation, leading to long-term resistance to change and suspicion the next time ‘improvement’ is tabled.

But, with the experience to anticipate what can happen and the right tools to manage the process of change, there is a lot you can do to overcome barriers and get the results you need.

Here, we look at two areas:

Successful transformation programmes strike the right balance between improving processes and developing people. Trying to implement change with an unequal balance of effort on either people or processes constrain the development of a culture where Continuous Improvement can be established and flourish.

In The Ascendant Organisation, Peter Wickens says there are four types of organisation characterised by different ‘combinations’ of people and processes:

 

 

Low commitment of people and poor processes leads to apathy. Typically, there is no initiative or direction in this kind of organisation and no consequence of failure or reward for success.

High commitment of people and poor processes leads to anarchy. Here, individuals and teams are empowered to make their own improvements without the guidelines and frameworks to ensure the changes they make fit into the broader needs of the business.

Low commitment of people and robust processes leads to ‘Alienation’ in the organisation. Think about the last time you listened to a call centre employee following a script word for word and you get the picture. How engaged was the employee and how did it make you feel as the customer?

 

High commitment of people and robust processes leads to an ascendant organisation. The way things are done makes sense to the customer and employees have the skills and motivation to make constant and managed improvements.

 

 

These four archetypes help you diagnose both when and how previous improvement ‘initiatives’ have failed and signpost the way to avoid the pitfalls of your current transformation plans.

Every improvement initiative has supporters and detractors. The trick is to make the most of your enablers and to understand and manage your blockers.

A very effective way to do this is through Force Field Analysis, a method for listing, discussing and dealing with those forces that will help to drive change and those that will restrain change from taking place.

Working with organisations in many different sectors - both public and private - we have found that the main challenges revolve around people, markets and products, and are often very similar.

At the end of the analysis, people are asked to say which of the blockers are manageable; what they need to mitigate them, and which ones are ‘deal breakers’. It’s amazing how quickly people realise that very few of them are deal breakers and how big issues such as industry regulation affecting everyone just serve to create a level playing field for all.

Transformation programmes are hard work but there is no substitute for working hard to get as many of your people on board.  As on any journey, your perception of where you are changes as your perspective of the landscape around you inevitably changes. Hopefully by having a decent compass and a way to deal with the magnets that try to deflect your direction, the journey will be beneficial even if the destination always seems to be some way off!

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