Showing posts with label Change Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Change Management. Show all posts
Is The Rate Of Change Increasing?
Everyone says it is.
There's
article after after article telling how things are getting so much
faster nowadays. And that everyone is suffering from Future Shock.
I'm
not going to waste everyone's time by listing them.
Everyone
says it is – but is it really.
Yes,
we're seeing technological change at an unprecedented rate – a rate
that would make my grandparents' heads spin.
But
so what?
What
is actually changing?
I
first touched a computer 46 years ago. It was a dumb terminal, linked
through a telephone line by modem to a mainframe in Milton Keynes
about 400 miles away. Well nowadays, people connect their smartphones
through wi-fi to the cloud. Yes, the technology is faster (much
faster) and more powerful so you can get more stuff done and quicker
– but the principle is no different from 46 years ago. It hasn't
changed.
And
that's not the only example or the most important.
The
biggest thing that needs to change but doesn't is – Us.
The
biggest problem facing us today is that we still think that we're
cavemen.
- We still slash and burn new forests instead of thinking like Modern Man and trying to revive the land that we've already abused.
- We still think resources are limited and go to war over them
- We still act like there are only 12 humans on this planet and so we worry about what our “friends” think instead of getting, newer better friends.
Credit:
The header image is available as wallpaper from Wall.Alphacoders.com
Change Management As A Culture
We cannot react to change because that's way too slow. At that point, the change has happened and is already eroding your efficiency
You
know what happens:
A
change happens
At
first, your organisation ignores it and hopes that it will go away
But
it doesn't. So, eventually your organisation wakes up and decides to
change to fit the new reality.
So
there are meetings and more meetings.
Everyone
mulls over and worries over what is the best way forward.
Eventually,
decisions are finally made to do some things differently – but not
too much. Just the barest minimum to account for the change
Then
the relevant people are re-trained in the new way of things and away
you go
In
the meantime, that change has been rampaging all over your
efficiency, your productivity and, most importantly of all, your
morale – growing and mutating as it went. But there's more bad
news: someone else has reacted faster than you, taken advantage of
early adaption and taken away some of your business.
And
the worst thing of all, is by the time you adapt to the original
change, it's already changed into something and your organisation is
still playing catch-up.
And
that's only on the presumption that you made the “right and best”
changes that took full advantage of the new situation. If you didn't,
then you really are in trouble.
And
that's presuming that your organisation actually decided to change
rather than just carry on with “business as usual”.
The
answer to change is not change management. At best, change management
can only react to change once it has happened and someone has noticed
it and flagged it as needing attention. Does that mean that change
management is bad? No! No! No! Change management is a whole lot
better than No-Change management. The sad thing is that it will
ultimately fail because it cannot adapt to the change fast enough –
even with the best will in the world. At best, all it does is delay
the inevitable.
What
you need is an organisation that anticipates change and so is ready
to respond when it actually happens. That means making an
organisation that is flexible and adaptable so it can respond
instantly.
If
your organisational culture is “Well, that's the way we've always
done it”, then you're just a dead man walking.
If
your organisational culture is “Well, we'll change when we have
to”, then you're just a dead man walking.
If
your organisational culture is “Well, we'll change when everyone
else does”, then you're just a dead man walking.
The
culture has to be “Well, let's do this until something changes and
makes it obsolete. And no one is going to get fired if they have to
pivot to handle change”
Credit:
The header image is available as wallpaper from Wall.Alphacoders.com
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