Dec 122011
Intuitively, change in highly structured organisations should be simple, orders are given and obeyed…
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Here are seven lessons I’ve learnt:
- don’t rely on the command structure to enact change, there are too many vested interests / career paths and so on
- you must find the elements that satisfy the “rational self-interest” of each and every person affected, “what’s in it for them”
- make a clear distinction between the organisation looking after “business as usual” and the project initiating change, confusing them will lead to failure
- remember that your “change agents” are the people in supervisor positions in the organisation, they are not in the project
- start with a very clear understanding of the current situation, otherwise the temptation is to leap to solutions and important aspects will be left out
- keep software systems out of the equation until you understand what it is you want to achieve (see comment above)
- above all, aim for the ideal so that you know how much you have to compromise but implement only what is politically possible