Peer to Peer Magazine

P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | F A L L 2 0 1 9 39 with a spectrum of opinions about the value of change in their domain. Broadly they fall into three categories; early adopters, willing followers and keepers of the tradition There is a defined scope and budget There will be a plan There is a governance and reporting requirement Most of these are misunderstood and misused by most Change Managers. I know that's a bold statement but let me explain. The Change Curve The Change Curve is a real thing, but too often it is used descriptively or as an excuse. It should be used as a management model. The core parts of the curve always exist but the specifics on an individual Change Program are manageable. The width and depth of the trough are critical things that need conscious management. Most Change Managers don't have defined activities to do that because they are to some extent outsiders. They don't fully understand the technical aspects of the change and they aren't deeply embedded in the part of the organization undergoing the change. That separation and the ability to step back it gives is important but, it is also a weakness. To manage the depth and width of the trough you need the help of people who know the organization and the technicalities of the change. Subject Matter Experts, SMEs, can help. One of the biggest mistakes that gets made is that in many instances they are people with day jobs who are "interviewed" by the change team and occasionally given 3 4 5 tasks to do. They are often the most knowledgeable people in their department and hence relied upon to make daily operations a success. If a change is important some of these people need seconding to the change team. If they are co-opted into the mission they are often the very best at devising creative ways of minimizing the depth and/or width of the trough in the Change Curve. They will have a much better feel for the feasibility of a big bang approach, deep short trough, or splitting the change into phases, multiple short shallow troughs. Working hand in hand with a skilled Change Manager and openly discussing how the change will impact operations is a sure-fire way of improving outcomes. I can't stress enough how important getting the best people and getting them away from the day to day is. They will be worried about going back to their job and their department will be worried about day to day effectiveness. Countering that is the obvious developmental benefit to the individual and the organization of rotation into a different kind of role. The People Acceptance of the change leads to adoption of the tools, processes and other deliverables of the change. Only people can accept. Change mytholo says that there is a distribution of attitudes to the change from early adopter through followers to those who resist. With individuals somewhere on that spectrum. Time and again I see the same three erroneous conclusions drawn from this truism: • The curve of opinion has a normal shape meaning that early adopters and resistors are fewer in number than followers. In reality the shape of the curve and hence the number of people with a particular view depends on several factors; the organization, the change itself, the power and popularity of the sponsor(s), industry trends and current profitability. The culture of an organization determines how willing it is to try something different and how much it punishes those who try and fail. Organizations that have the ability to support change will have more early adopters because their culture will affect people's attitudes and will drive their hiring choices. Specific conscious stakeholder mapping and management is required to understand the situation for a particular change. • The early adopters are friends and will advocate for the change. This may be true but also may be counter- productive. The organization can be cynical about the views of people who always like new shiny things. If you want help from the early adopters, you need to help them provide a balanced message. • Those who resist are the enemy and are best ignored or left till last. Worse, I see change teams using valuable sponsor time and credibility to bulldoze these people. I prefer to call this group, keepers of the tradition. By this I mean that they may well understand the purpose of the current solution and the overall goals of the business better than most and their skepticism may be because they haven't seen the same level of understanding from the change team. Engaging with these people and really listening to them can be hugely educational. Don't confuse willingness to change with the ability to execute change. Many

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