Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed …. Something Changed?

This old wedding custom has its roots in Victorian times and a lot has changed in the interim for sure. But there is a lot to be said for aspects of this tradition when it comes to organizational change. Very often, when organizations are facing large scale changes such as technology implementations, business process changes and restructuring, many companies will bring in big consulting groups who are experienced at systems integration and change management. In a recent technology implementation project where we were partnering with a large consulting firm, we were concerned that that the change management strategy being applied was mostly “Something New” instead of a mix of “Old” and “Borrowed”.

Organizational Change is difficult enough, and one of the approaches we take when challenged with a project is to first understand the impact that the change will have on various functional groups. We then look at what programs and processes the organization already has in place that may either inhibit the change effort (for example, too much change driven by different groups, impacting functions at the same time), or have the potential of supporting the change. For example, in a banking organization we linked a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system implementation with a customer satisfaction program that was already underway. Left separate, these programs would have conflicted, but linked they brought added synergy with incentives to the CRM implementation. In another change project focused on process standardization in an energy company, we recommended connecting with the company’s Six Sigma/continuous improvement effort to both engage large numbers of employees within their teams as well as focus their efforts on process improvements. In another case, where a utility company was implementing a new technology, we recommended utilizing a company wide problem solving program with the technology implementation.
So, that old Victorian tradition can also provide meaning to change in the new millennium – when developing a change strategy to support large scale projects, look for “Something Old” and “Something Borrowed” first before turning to Something New.

Let me and othes know about your experiences with large scale change projects. I look forward to your comments and thoughts.