2010 March | Horizontal Change Management

do we really need a “People Side of Change”?

In what must be my 100th version of an elevator speech (isn’t it nice when you have more than 30 seconds to actually talk?) given at a recent LinkedIn event I realized I keep throwing out the term, “People side of Change”. As in, ‘”what do you do?”, the people side of change…blah blah blah

I wonder, what is the other side?

Technology? Business? Process? Structure?

A quick Google search http://tinyurl.com/yh8jf65 reveals the term applied to a book http://tinyurl.com/yzvbolt(nice for marketing), job descriptions (and is for a project manager- isn’t that one of the other sides?) and an approach to

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Linear work through spatial glasses- My own change management exercise

I have been doing some web work redesign and am officially feeling the pain that many of the stakeholders I work with go through. Web pages are now designed around CSS which is a linear process. I do mockups and graphic design work with Fireworks which works on a spatial/visual platform. I can mock up a web site in a couple of hours. I have spent days (Ok actually more than that) trying to figure out and understand CSS. System oriented focus that I have I wonder why the process can not be WSIWYG. And I feel for you stakeholders.

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Using Languaging for your own organizational mini-detente

Words are powerful tools in change management.

Change Management words can become tools for communication, horizontally in your organization.

Addressing semantics to gain shared meaning can create mini-detente’s.

One of my favorites is the word training. As in “let us know who needs to be trained for this change and what they need to be trained on”.

Trained or educated?

For me training is the development of specific skills. The closer to something one can do with their hands the purer the definition. It is rote and it is repetitious and it takes practice.

Educated, for me, is informed,

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Change Design

I specialize in the design of change within organizations.

Some C level executives say, “we already do that”.

Some HR people I meet say ,“that’s what we do”.

Some PMO leaders say, “that’s our role”.

Some strategy/business development leaders say, “that is integrated into all of our processes”.

Some consultants say, “there’s no market for that”.

All stakeholders say, “if only we had that here…”

Despite expertise, energy and participation of all, most organizations are missing something. They have to be since I do this (there is a market) and each of those people above disagree with one or others.

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What you want them to hear and What they want to Listen to, the same thing?

The short and long answer is no.

The rare occasion where the two perspectives magically mesh is when an expert speaks to a receptive audience. It does not take long for ego to show itself to undue the bind.

From my days as a presentation coach to now I have seen this, explained it, created exercises to address it and cringed when a model for communication or worse change management has the “speaker” perspective.

If you expect or hope for attention, understanding and dialogue you have to understand your issue or topic from the listeners perspective. And I am not

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Why Change Management communication is not like selling a Coke (or Pepsi)

I have been shown refreshing splashes of soda in thousands of commercials over my lifetime. To date I have had one taste of Coke and one of Pepsi. Period. The ads, obviously, did/do not work. Force feed images all you want. People can actually make their own decisions based on fact and emotion (enjoyable emotion not the kind that makes you wonder how you got there).

So why do many change initiatives use a “sell the soda” marketing model?

If Change Management really does need to be sold you are starting off well behind the curve. If emotion has

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Taking one step back in Change Management or is it one step forward?

Guiding large scale change, as you have read in previous posts, is a balancing act between big/small, close/far, future/past and wide angle/zoom. All of these relate to “personal depth of field”. Change benefits from using the correct lens at the correct time. Let’s face it some of us have the wide angle attached and some the macro zoom. That is good if leveraged.

Same tree, same standing spot, same time- different lens.

How long does it take for you to see the tree from the previous vantage point? Or how much did you want to see more of

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Change Management and the Status Quo- Using change to break down organizational barriers

Change Management is a dance between keeping that which is comfortable and worthwhile and opening up new possibilities, profit and value.

Think of the status quo as a fenced in field. Despite the fact that the fence can easily be knocked down there is still safety. There is at least the appearance of, safety.

Now add a gate that can let in new influences.

You might also want to use the gate for letting things out (or free?).

Does that gate need a lock? And if you think it does I would question the strength (and need for) the

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The Owner of the Change is Who?

A discussion popped up today in a LinkedIn group about the “owner” of the change. I always find these discussions interesting for their range of perspective and for the consistency that many hold to assumptions and narrow methods. As a client that would make me a little nervous since I would hope my external change management consultant sees through common change foibles.

Some answers-

The executive responsible for the change The change agent The passed to leader (usually a director) All the stakeholders The CEO The change management consultants

My take? It depends on the size and nature of the

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The Lure of the Fix- the Elusiveness of Solutions

The use of Change Management as a process is most effective, lasting and fruitful when it is digging into the root causes of problems and finding solutions. It is less so when it is used to quick-fix and apply bandages to immediate difficulties.

This shows up for the practitioners and change agents as an, “if we do this then this happens” dilemma. Often the “do this” needs to be done to keep the project piece of the change moving forward. CM consultants know full well the ramifications of shoving certain things into the mix.

I have found the difficulties for

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