Managing change focuses on the day-to-day work leaders must do (or avoid) to make a change a success.

How to Build Support for Change During the 11th Hour

This post is an unproofed work in progress. I welcome your input. How to Build Support for Change During the 11th Hour You may find yourself months into a project and realize that this major change is slowing to a …

New and Improved Change Management Resource

New and Improved Change Management Resource In 2009, I started the Change Management Open Source Project, a place where people could come together to talk about change in organizations. As of this morning there are 1001 members from well over …

Medical Emergencies, Spring Training, and Organizational Change

Medical Emergencies, Spring Training, and Organizational Change As I waited for my dental appointment this morning, another patient had a seizure which resulted in a local EMT team taking him to a hospital. My dentist told me that something like …

The Risks of Outsourcing SAP Support

The Risks of Outsourcing SAP Support I just came across a thoughtful blog post on the risks inherent in outsourcing SAP (or any other ERP software implementation).  The points he raises are worth considering as you consider outsourcing or as …

An Optimistic Note: It is possible to overcome gridlock

A Rare Example of Bipartisanship is an important article by David Ignatius in The Washington Post on how cooperation is possible even in the most gridlocked situations.  According to Ignatius, the House Intelligence Committee “used to be one of the …

Change Management Resources : How to Make a Compelling Case for Change

Change Management Resources : How to Make a Compelling Case for Change Making a compelling case for change is the most important point in the life of a change — and the most neglected. Making a case is not just …

20 Signs of an Unhappy Workforce

20 Signs of an Unhappy Workforce Interesting post in the ASSIEM blog of 20 signs that signal unhappy workers. I wouldn’t take the list at face value (see my reply to that post below) but it sure is a good …

Change Management: It’s Still Why Before How

 Change Management: It’s Still Why Before How I was taking part in a conversation on LEAN. Someone posed the question about what incentives people needed in order to support LEAN (a waste reduction process). As I read through the thoughtful …

How to Get Rid of Wasted Effort, Scope Creep, and Lukewarm Productivity in 2012

How to Get Rid of Wasted Effort, Scope Creep, and Lukewarm Productivity in 2012 My prediction for the new year: Your organization will initiate many major changes with considerable hope and fanfare. But, by the end of the year, most …

Consultant’s Should Not Lead Change for Their Clients

Consultant’s Should Not Lead Change for their Clients I don’t think it is the consultant’s job to bring change to our clients’ organizations. It’s their organizations, so they get to decide. The decision to change or not change is a …

Making Change the Norm

I just responded to the Lean IT blog.  The author made four succinct points. I responded to the one that read:  3. Organizations should establish a culture of change where changes are both scheduled, expected, and managed. In other words, …

Applying Keller and Price’s 5 Questions on Leading Change

Scott Keller and Colin Price wrote a very good blog post Five Questions That Should Shape Any Change Program for Harvard Business Review blog. It’s well worth reading. I won’t repeat what they say in their post, but here’s what …

The Danger of Missing the Subltety of Kotter’s Leading Change

Recently, I have been reading lots of blogs on change. Some are great and get me thinking. I love those. Many others just list John Kotter’s eight steps. These blog authors add no value. How have they applied these steps? …

Don’t Shoot – Lessons on Leading Change

Don’t Shoot: One Man, A Street Fellowship, and the End of Violence in Inner-City America (David Kennedy. Bloomsbury USA. 2011) is a powerful and important book. Harvard researcher, David Kennedy wondered why our approaches to dealing with gang violence were …

Response to “Why Companies are Often Terrible at Changing”

Interesting article by Sharlene Evans and Greta Roberts in 10/21/11 issue of Fortune, Why Companies Are Often Terrible at Changing.  I like the article, and I was intrigued by the comments. They seemed to blame leaders for the failure. While …

Leadership, Resistance, and the Penn State Scandal

I believe it was Ernest Jones who wrote, “All organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they are getting.” I think about that quote as I read the unfolding details about the conditions that allowed the Penn State scandal …

It’s the Wisdom of Individuals First (not Groups)

I just read a helpful reminder about the limitations of groups on decision making.  (Why Brainstorming Doesn’t Always Work. Jena McGregor. The Washington Post 11/6/11) It’s pretty common for a group to meet and someone asks, “Any ideas on how …

Organizations Focus too Much on Individuals

Kurt Lewin created an elegant equation: B(f) P + E  (Behavior is a function of the person and his/her environment.  I just read a good post on the Peak Alignment blog titled Dumping the Water Back in the Pond that …

How can smaller companies utilize change management to help the business grow?

How can smaller companies utilize change management to help the business grow?  The discipline of sound change management can be an important tool for small companies that want to grow. But, sadly, many smaller businesses act like the big kids …

What’s Your Communication Plan About the Change Initiative?

What’s Your Communication Plan About the Change Initiative? Late breaking news: communication requires giving – and receiving – information. The “and receiving” part of communications plans is often missing. Corporate communications departments salivate at the thought that they can create …

How to Prepare the Message You Want to Communicate Around Change

  Note: This is a companion post to What’s Your Communication Plan About the Change Initiative?), I discuss the range of things that need to be covered as well as the need to make certain that communication is a conversation …

Planning Change Checklist – The Things You Must Include if You Want People to be Engaged

Planning Change Checklist – The Things You Must Include if You Want People to be Engaged Here are some guidelines for holding a planning meeting. Follow these Guidelines for Planning Meetings Many of the tools for getting people involved have …

The Secret of Employee Engagement is No Secret

The Secret of Employee Engagement is No Secret Last week I was working with all the senior leaders and middle managers for a large city government.  They were launching a number of challenging new programs for their city. They knew …

Rick Maurer | How You Can Avoid the Pitfalls of ERP Implementation

Rick Maurer Discusses How You Can Avoid the Pitfalls of ERP Implementation Depending on the study you read, the failure rate of ERP projects can be somewhere between 60 and 90 percent. Although recent studies put the failure rate nearer …

Digging Deep: Why People Support Your Brilliant Ideas and Why They Resist

Free Podcast on May 2. 10 Am and 8 PM Eastern (-4 GMT) Digging Deep: Why People Support Your Brilliant Ideas and Why They Resist My buddy Jacquie McLemore and I are conducting a free 60-minute Podcast through the Gestalt …

Influence. Action. Change! Video

Here is a link to a 5-minute video in which I try to put into words my excitement about Influence. Action. Change! ™, a new program at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.  I helped design the program and will be …

Goal Setting Works: Who Knew?

In spite of my snarky title, I think this is a critically important issue. It just saddens me that the lesson that setting clear goals never quite sinks in. Sue Shellenbarger wrote a fine article, Making Kids Work on Goals …

Influence. Action. Change! ™

Influence. Action. Change! ™ is an exciting new program that I helped design for the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.  (And I will co-lead the program with my buddy and co-creator of this program, Jacquie McLemore.) It is designed for people who …

Branson on Managing Change

Richard Branson wrote a fine piece on his experience leading change in Entrepreneur. It is worth reading. …

Spiderman Meets Shakespeare (and the Bard Wins)

Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark has been in previews longer than some Broadway shows ever even get to run. Production costs are running at about $65 Million. But even under the direction of Julia Taymor (The Lion King), the show …

The Chilean Minors and Open Book Management

The Chilean Minors and Open Book Management The minors were trapped for six weeks before rescuers were able to punch the first hole through. This allowed people on the surface to lower food as well as messages from family and …

Must We Focus on Why Changes Fail? Yes, We Must.

Question: Must we focus on why changes fail? (drum roll) Answer: Yes, we must. Over the past couple of days, I was engaged in conversations about the emphasis on the failure of change in organizations. They believed that focusing on …

Reasons why so many changes fail#14 Relying on the Three Most Common Ways of Communicating Change

Reasons why so many changes fail#14 Relying on the Three Most Common Ways of Communicating Change Most leaders rely way too heavily on the big three ways of communicating change: PowerPoint e-mails memos

Reasons why so many changes fail #13 Making Them Learn Your Language

Reasons why so many changes fail #13 Making Them Learn Your Language Old MIS (Management Information Systems) departments often had the reputation of speaking some foreign language when they worked with senior management and other departments. They made the critical …

Reasons Changes Fail #12 Taking Time Will Waste Time

Reasons why so many changes fail #12 Taking Time Will Waste Time Our research found that when people made a strong case for change, the rest of the project often went much more smoothly. In other words, they didn’t face …

Reasons why so many changes fail #11 A Belief That You Can Force Them to Do It

Reasons why so many changes fail #11 A Belief That You Can Force Them to Do It No, you can’t. People can find all types of creative ways to stop you in your tracks. For instance, the president of a …

Reasons why so many changes fail #10 Moving to How Before Why

Reasons why so many changes fail #10 Moving to How Before Why Moving to how before people know why a change is needed. People need to know why something is important before they can get interested or even be willing …

Reasons why so many changes fail #8 Leaders fail to appreciate the power of fear

Reasons why so many changes fail #8 Leaders fail to appreciate the power of fear Fear of change is deeply personal. The thought of a big change can evoke pictures of relocations or downsizing. People worry that they may be …

Reasons why so many changes fail #6 Assume Understanding Equals Support

Reasons why so many changes fail #6 Assume Understanding Equals Support Leaders assume that understanding equals support and commitment It is common to introduce change by making a PowerPoint presentation to a large group. Leaders may schedule time for Q&A, …

Reasons why so many changes fail #13 Making Them Learn Your Language — instead of learning theirs.

Reasons why so many changes fail #13 Making Them Learn Your Language — instead of learning theirs. Old MIS (Management Information Systems) departments often had the reputation of speaking some foreign language when they worked with senior management and other …