The real culprit for change failure

Last week, I shared my fool-proof guide to ensuring adoption after go live (read the blog post here). But there was something that I didn’t mention which these days is probably going to be your bigger issue than not having the right success metrics, not managing “through” the change, and not keeping networks thriving.

What's probably going to be your bigger issue is that another change will get planned that is going to break the change that you just did! So often, it's not about change sticking, it's about that change then breaking because something else comes in. 

So what can you do about it and how can you prevent future changes breaking or unwinding the great transition and adoption you’ve just worked hard to reach?

Think about the levels of program and portfolio management

Before you finish your work on the project, try and get a forward view of what else is happening in the pipeline and what could impact the continuing success of your change. It's absolutely okay for things to affect and to shift and change your project, but projects are often working in silos, their own little dark corner, coming up with the “best thing in the whole world”. And literally $2 million has just been spent over here and the thing that they're implementing is either exactly the same or it's going to completely unwind and break what you put in. If before you close, you can get a forward view of all the changes coming down the pipeline for the next 6 months / 12 months / 2 years, then you can give guidance to the business or whoever you're handing over to and say, “Hey, heads up this project over here that's just been approved might have impacts on what we’ve just delivered.” 

Play matchmaker

If you find there could be future impacts to your change from upcoming projects and changes, you can introduce the projects to each other before you wrap up. I’ve done this before where I’ll be like, “Hey, I’m heading off, but you might want to talk to this person, you're going to have these projects happening. I think you could really learn the lessons from the one that's just launched.” And then the one that's just launched can help be embedded by the one that's coming down the line. This is what “Through” in VIBRANT Change is really all about - paving the way for future changes and embedding past changes by seeing the connections and collaborating for stronger success. So try and set up some of those introductions before you go.

Creating more strategic solutions

Because change is happening so frequently, now it's almost less about adoption and not sticking and more about it being broken or unwound because of something else. But this is really the purpose of Portfolio Management or group functions and shared services such as Transformation, IT or Innovation. It's so that that doesn't happen and there is a consistency and efficiency. For example, if two different business units are both trying to find a new recruitment system, portfolio management is identifying that they actually may be able to combine and then you realise actually we might be doing recruitment the same way across the whole organisation and do one project, creating not just a new system but tying it into a really great employer brand. That's the strategic level thinking that's still missing in so many businesses, which is unfortunate. 

It’s these kinds of practical, real-world challenges and solution examples that make my Leading Successful Change program so powerful. I’ll be running my course as a live in-person training for the first time on 18-19 August. Registrations close in 2 weeks on Wednesday 13 August. If you want to come and learn how to do practical Change Management delivery and set your projects up for success rather than failure with their change, register now and come along. 

Learn more about LSC Live and secure your spot here

Lata xx