Title: If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat! Pat McLagan
1If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat!
Pat McLagan
2If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat!
- In the last post, I talked about one of two major
mistakes that condemn changes to the trash heap
of failed projects failing to say NO to a
proposed change that wont add value. The second
mistake is both big and common failing to
allocate enough resources for success. Think
about this a group decides to pursue a new
strategy or launch a big change. The change is
complex and will change roles and relationships
and require a period of learning, experimenting,
even trial and error. But the resources
allocated to the change process are minimal or
(and this is very common) people are told, Do
this AND your job, too and stay within the
current budgets.
3If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat!
- There are many big changes afoot around
organizations today. The biggest require
significant shifts in culture, mindsets,
accountability, and power relationships. Think
of what is happening as global supply chains put
pressure on functional silos and command/control
hierarchies. Think of what is happening to
organizations and their people as they adjust to
the VUCA (velocity, uncertainty, complexity,
ambiguity) environment that smart technology is
underwriting.
4If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat!
- Ive been involved in many change projects during
the last decades. I put them into three broad
categories each requiring resources and
attention beyond the day-to-day running of the
business. Some of the changes (Ill call them
T1, transactional changes) are relatively simple
to complete and leave roles intact. But they may
require training and additional communication
about the rationale for the change. Training and
communication may be enough to help people get
over the change hump of adopting a new word
processing program, for example. But, even
though T1 is a simple change, it still requires
time, attention, and additional resources.
5If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat!
- T2 (transitional) changes are a bit more
complicated and require a greater change
management investment. T2 changes rattle the
status quo and change relationships. They are
changes that are complex but have been
implemented elsewhere. There is usually a
relatively clear vision of the end game and
because something similar exists, uncertainty
while present is reduced. Examples of a T2
change include the implementation of a new
enterprise management system, the opening of an
subsidiary in a new country, or an organization
restructuring that results in downsizing.
6If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat!
- These require changes of many kinds. These in
turn cant occur unless the management puts skin
in the game, spending personal time supporting
the changes and funding a good-sized
implementation program and a change management
budget beyond business as usual.
7If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat!
- T3 (transformational) changes, the most difficult
and complex, replace the status quo and require
significant innovation in uncertainty. These are
changes like those in big South African
businesses as apartheid ended, or in
manufacturing, banking, telecom, and some
branches of government during major context
shifts, or in global businesses today that are
cobbling together complex networks of suppliers
and customers and looking for ways to keep them
both aligned and responsive. T3 changes involve
experimentation and require significant
investments time, money, people working as
change teams.
8If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat!
- T3 changes are the equivalent of a state change
in physics a change from solid to liquid, or
liquid to gas. Think about what you do when you
want to boil water to change it from liquid to
gas. You turn the heat up to 9 or 10 on the
stove a significant investment of energy. If
you only turn it to 1 or 2, all you get is tepid
water and slow evaporation that doesnt power
anything. The energy investment has to match the
problem you are trying to solve.
9If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat!
- As you are thinking about your change
investments, be sure to realize that it takes
significantly more resources to achieve T2 than
T1, and yet more for T3. If you are not willing
to put the time, energy, and resources into a
change project or goal that it requires, it is
probably better not to start.
10If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up the Heat!
- NUGGET Make sure your investment in change is
robust enough to achieve your change goal. - Post source Link. want to get tips in your inbox
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11THANK YOU!