Organizational Change Potential – How to Assess

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 – going from left to right.

1. First, you need the pressure for change. This can be a compelling event, but a general sense of urgency must be made. Without it, you will go at whatever pace the slowest influencer wants.
2. Then, you will need a shared understanding of why you bought the software or changed the process. Then, you will need to clearly articulate the objective – what you need out of the change.
3. Third, you will need to be able to resource it adequately during implementation and after. To resource adequately – you’ll want the appropriate resources to help facilitate the change and the right resources.
4. Last, you will want to set up a realistic approach to your organization – one that you can achieve. Wanting something now but having no plan to get there will hurt your reputation and lead to many unhappy people.

What’s great about the above chart is that it shows what happens if one of those essential elements is missing. So although the results can be pretty extreme for the enterprise, it is meant to get you to think. It becomes an incredibly fun (and I mean, unfun) game when you have two key elements missing. For example, if you are missing both “Pressure for Change” and a “Shared Vision,” – you get a Slow Death AND Anarchy. See? Fun.

Continue to Part 2 – Pressure for Change

References and Resources

A Beautiful Constraint (Source: &Strategy – adapted by Michael Hay)

Supporting Music

Cherub Rock by The Smashing Pumpkins

I Predict a Riot by The Kaiser Chiefs

Note: Originally posted December 13, 2017