Part 3 of 5: Continued from a Previous post There are four common areas to address when preparing to implement change in your Organization: Pressure for Change A Shared Vision A Capacity to Translate to Execution A Realistic Workplan Let’s talk about a Shared Vision. What does having a Shared Vision mean? From the book – A Beautiful Constraint (Source: &Strategy – adapted by Michael Hay): We need a view of where we want to go, and why, which…
Part 2 of 5: Continued from a Previous post There are four common areas to address when preparing to implement change in your organization: Pressure for Change A Shared Vision A Capacity to Translate to Execution A Realistic Workplan Let’s talk about the Pressure for Change. What does Pressure for Change mean? From the book – A Beautiful Constraint (Source: &Strategy – adapted by Michael Hay): To create the will to change, we first need the pressure to change….
Part 1 of 5 When you first commit to taking on a technological change, you’ll need to start somewhere to ensure it’s a success. In the book, A Beautiful Constraint – there is a diagram that references that may help as a starting reference. The chart helps assess whether your company is ready for change. It is particularly relevant to a large organization that bought a new software solution to drive digital transformation. Here’s how to read it regarding software implementation…
When Peter Drucker said “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” he was referring to the general health of an organization. Drucker’s tenet, however, is equally relevant when taking on digital transformation within an organization. And it’s often overlooked. When companies purchase software, they hire Project Managers and Contractors to help implement it. Maybe the company brings in a Global System Integrator like Accenture or Deloitte to advise on the Company’s best approach to change. Their Procurement group pours over the cost…
Implementing software is a constant balancing act. Focus too much on the Executives, and you’ll use the End-Users. On the other hand, focus too much on the Digital Natives, and you’ll lose the Digital Laggards. A fundamental way to see where your scales may tip is to reflect on your organization’s core elements: Confidence & Capability. Confidence Confidence is the perception of how prepared an Organization’s user base is for implementation. High confidence organizations coincide with the belief that the team…
No matter how large or how small, software Implementations have specific rules. The best Implementation Consultants know when those rules should be bent, broken, or strictly followed. In the implementations I’ve led, I’ve always found the below set of laws invaluable. The rules fall into three categories: Implementation, Change Management, and Communication. Implementation The one thing about Software Implementations is that they take time. And with time comes one crucial rule: Murphy’s Law. Murphy’s Law states that anything that can…
Core teams are vital. In a software implementation, an engaged and hungry core team is critical to success. Conversely, I’m reminded why that is so important every time I see this cartoon by Tom Fishburne. I really wish the above image were a joke. So many Software Implementations, Digital Transformation efforts, and Change Management plans never have a chance for success because of the above hierarchy. Do you see anyone in your leadership organization that fits here? I bet you…
SAAS (Software as a Services) implementations all have a similar trajectory. Most implementation services organizations have a fancy chart that represents these main phases: Discovery and Analysis – This is where the true scope of delivery and delivery capabilities is reviewed. In the UX space, this would be a lot of end-user, champion, and executive sponsor interviews. Design and Planning – This phase digests the Discovery phase and lays it all together as a plan that is mutually agreed upon….
As the country continues to wait for the results of the election – one thing is very clear. We all need a reset. This election and much of the last 4 years have been stressful. Regardless of which candidate you supported on November 3rd, we’ve all been wound up pretty tight. Whether you call it gas-lighting or not – we’ve never experienced 4 years like the last. Four years where there was a clear good team and a clear bad…
No one marches into an implementation and aims to deliver only the absolute bare minimum. Well, maybe Larry does. Screw Larry – he’s an idiot. Well, no one except Larry aims for the lowest common denominator. Even so, it’s deceptively easy to slip from aspirational change into ‘good-enough’ type implementations. Sometimes we even justify the slippage by calling our new target, MVP, Minimum Viable Product. However, the difference is that MVP is a target along a journey, not a watered-down,…