IMA's Implementing Organizational Changes at Speed Blog

Field research over the last thirty years indicates approximately 70% of major systems installations fail to achieve on time and on budget the benefits they promised their organizations. In over 85% of those failures technological integrity is not the issue. Ultimately, whether timely or not, the technology will do what it is supposed to do. The problem lies not in the quality and elegance of the technical solution, but rather in the process of integrating the human beings with the technology, by gaining acceptance and building commitment to its optimal utilization. 

While many organizations hope a series of informational emails from top executives combined with a few half-day training sessions for end users will work to build Target Readiness for an organizational change, these tactics are rarely enough. The fact is, no amount of communication is going to magically make people change their behavior. And while important, end-user training is just one piece of the Readiness puzzle. 

Target Readiness is an important element of the Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM) change management model. Don Harrison, developer of this highly respected implementation framework, lists four requirements for Targets to get to sustained change adoption, whether the individual is a leader, or at the front lines. These include having: 

How’s this for irony?  You’ve finally convinced your senior executives about the benefits of applying structure to the people-side of projects.  You’ve been approved to implement a new change management methodology across the organization.  This is great news, and of course, you’ve selected the Accelerating Implementation
Methodology (AIM) as your change management process of choice.  You’re so smart! 

Whether you call it a perspective, a paradigm, or just “the way I see it”, Frames of Reference (FOR) are not optional. Everyone has a Frame of Reference, and often they have multiple FORs.  For example, in a healthcare environment, a nurse may have a personal FOR, a departmental or work function FOR, and a professional FOR. The ranking of these FORs in importance varies by individual.  

There is no doubt building readiness for change takes time, energy, and resources. Ensuring you have the four factors of Sponsorship, Cultural Fit, Agent Capacity and Target Readiness allows you to build readiness at speed.  However, in our 30+ years of Change Management industry experience, we’ve witnessed a lot of Change Management Consultants who miss one of the most powerful tools available for building Target readiness: involvement. 

Fast. Faster. Fastest!  In today's crazy, busy work world, the drive to accelerate transformational change, enterprise wide changes, really any type of business change is greater than ever before.  Organizations who are able to implement faster are figuratively one step ahead of their competition and ultimately more successful. 

Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”  That’s why we find it rather puzzling when organizations initiate any type of change without a Change Implementation Plan. 

In fact, after almost 40 years of hands-on Change Management Consulting and Training work, we contend Implementation Management Planning is arguably the single most important step to be taken when starting a new change project, whether it’s transformational in scope or a more modest change. 

Are you currently working on a transformational change?  Maybe you are you going through an organizational re-design or implementing new technology.  It could be a Shared Services implementation or a Lean Process Improvement.  If you are involved in any strategic change where people will need to do things differently, you are likely starting to think about how you are going to build capacity.  

How many changes does your organization have planned for this upcoming year? We are guessing it’s quite a few. Whether your plate is full with organization restructuring, new technology, process improvement, or any other change where people need to do things differently, you will ultimately be faced with two options: You can either invest in building readiness now, or you can spend your resources managing resistance later. You can’t avoid this dilemma; it’s inevitable! But the good news is that you do have a choice, and the best choice is pretty obvious.