Blog

Over the past few years I’ve come across many change programs in government that…. well, that just aren’t delivering. Not really.

Don’t get me wrong. The change team is very busy, often spending their days attending a bunch of meetings and doing important things like training needs analysis and designing capability uplift plans….

But when it’s time to report on outcomes (not just outputs), it becomes clear that things aren’t on track. There’s just no real traction or momentum in the business.

There is a gap between all that do-ing and busy-ness, and directing our change effort to the things that will genuinely help move the needle and get results.

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Who do you think should, ideally, set the vision for your transformation initiative? Collective or top down? What’s your personal preference?

Not going to lie: I have a pretty strong opinion about it.

That’s why today on The New Way podcast, I’m sharing my take on whether or not your organisation’s transformation vision should be set by the collective or top down.

And I’m also sharing my approach to developing it.

Look, there are different schools of thought on this, and there’s no absolute right or wrong answer… BUT… I have some strong views about it myself.

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Supporting a digital transformation program right now? Yeah, me too.

No matter the specifics of your unique program, I guarantee that there’s one big thing you can do to make it way more likely you’ll deliver the technical change adoption:

Stop sounding so bloody technical!

Look, language is powerful. Language helps us all perceive the world around us - and that includes how your stakeholders perceive your transformation program.

Specifically, the words, phrases and sentence structure you and your team use to describe your digital transformation program plays a HUGE role in shaping and influencing the way folks think about, feel about, and engage with your change program.

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Not all stakeholders are created equal.

If you’ve ever been part of a stakeholder mapping workshop, you’ll know that it doesn’t take much to identify a wide array of stakeholders, no matter what your change or transformation program is about. In any well-run brainstorming session, people will submit their ideas and you’ll end up with a huge number of stakeholders.

In fact, in the last stakeholder mapping session I hosted, in a fairly short group brainstorming activity, we came up with a total of more than 100 stakeholders combined in the first pass. Obviously that can be a pretty overwhelming number to deal with.

Most change teams are running pretty lean these days. And to actually deliver effective and sustainable change, they have a lot to do.

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Your change management strategy is the foundation and compass for all the change effort to come. But… do you always need one?

Look, no. No you don’t. Let me explain 👇🏽

For the record, to the organisational change managers reading this, yes I understand you’re working on very important elements of a change or transformation program right now.

My take is that it doesn’t necessarily mean you need a stand alone change management strategy.

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Are you working from home at the moment? Yeah, so am I. At least a couple of days a week.

In case you missed it, last week on the podcast we talked all about the power of identifying and making sure we’re aligning our change management strategy to relevant trends.

Well, today on The New Way podcast I’m diving into a workplace trend that’s impacted most of us over the last 18 months. Plus I’m sharing 3 big tactical implications for change leaders.

Yep, we’re talking about working from home.

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Change leaders must keep their eyes peeled for trends. I’m not talking about trends in the change management industry or theory here. No. Instead I’m talking about trends in our organisations and communities, and in our work lives and personal lives.
Of course, the field of organisational change management isn’t new - but our strategies for success are always evolving.

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Struggling with folks working in silos, not sharing info or resources, not having confidence in their colleagues or leaders, and making decisions based on personal interest, not on what’s most aligned to organisational strategy? You’ve got a low-trust organisation on your hands.

I’m sorry to say you’re going to struggle to deliver effective change. But don’t stress, with the right know-how, it’s not insurmountable.

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I’m pretty sure that these days we all agree that organisational culture isn’t just something you have off to the side. Instead, culture is your business. You can’t get away from it. Your culture is reflected in every decision your team makes and influences every nook and cranny of the organisation.

That’s why understanding organisational culture is a must if you’re serious about delivering successful change.

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Change program not going as planned? Look, it’s probably because of the amount of friction in the change journey.

You see, anytime we’re designing, sponsoring or delivering change management strategies and plans we are either removing friction, or we’re (often unknowingly) adding a metric ton of it to the change journey.

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We all know there’s never been a more important time to be a good leader. In work and business, there’s more challenges than ever. And of course the increasing rate of change and urgent need for organisations to adapt to new ways of working is a big issue at the moment. Quality change leadership is more valuable than ever.

BUT recent research into the state of global leadership shows that there’s a growing leadership quality gap in organisations everywhere. That’s a big problem.

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I bet that, right now off the top of your head, you could come up with many of the most commonly touted contributors to successful change. (Think: visible leadership; having dedicated change resources; communicating often etc.)

Of course there’s a reason why they are cited so often. They really are very important contributors to effective organisational change… BUT the truth is there are other success factors - just as important - that no one seems to talk about. Today I’m spilling the beans.

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We hear a lot of talk about how many change initiatives fail but the truth is failure doesn’t just happen out of the blue.

If you’re headed for disaster, there’s always a number of warning signs that will give you a heads up that things aren’t looking good long before problems show up. Knowing what to look out for and taking aligned action when you see warning signs pop up will save your change initiative from absolute disaster.

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Every week leaders tell me about how their organisation has screwed up an important change initiative in the past.

Even if you’re new to the change leadership role or new the organisation, when your Department or company has a legacy of failure with these things, it can seem a near impossible task to drive transformation in a culture of mistrust and fatigue. If you’re in that boat, you’re not alone. This episode of The New Way is for you.

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Look, I’m not calling you a liar but… we all have blind spots.

Today I’m sharing 3 huge lies that I see change leaders telling themselves all.the.time. Think these won’t apply to you? Stick with me - I bet you’ll be surprised. I’ve seen leaders at all levels, working with a range of different clients, unknowingly demonstrate these success-killers.

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One of the challenges I see senior executives face when their organisation is undergoing a change initiative is tracking how well the initiative is actually doing in real life. When the team’s trying to impress you it can be hard to get to the bottom of things.

Traffic light and other progress reporting on your transformation initiative might look a certain way on paper and it seems like it’s ticking all the right boxes… but we’ve all experienced the truth of the matter being totally different. Even when a report is showing a wash of green traffic lights, your initiative could end up falling short of the success you’re hoping for.

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Don’t you hate it when everyone around the table agrees in the room, there’s lots of smiling and nodding but after the meeting wraps… there’s just no follow through? Well, at least not in the way you’d hoped. So frustrating! But the truth is that a lack of dissent is not the same thing as genuine alignment and team buy-in.

Look, alignment is hard. Experience has taught me that it rarely happens organically. An aligned team takes intention and consistent effort, but we all know it’s worth it.

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Does having a ‘personal brand’ feel like a flog to you? That’s how I used to feel too... BUT these days I know that a strong personal brand can be game changing when it comes to leading successful organisational transformation.

A strong personal brand can help create a powerful sense of stability and trust within your organisation during times of change and uncertainty. When employees and stakeholders trust you, you’ll more easily garner their buy-in and engagement throughout the transformation journey - even when the changes are significant or challenging.

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If you need your employees to take action, this episode is for you. Genuine organisational change demands a lot of action by individuals and to get that happening, a lot of effective communication by leaders. Experience tells me this is often an area that leaders struggle with: They know the actions that needs to be taken by staff, but communicating it in a compelling way that actually encourages action when you’re flying by the seat of your pants can be tough.

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At the outset of a transformation program there is often a big gap between where the organisation is now and the desired end state. It can feel like it’ll take forever to bring changes to life. During this phase, a trap that I see a lot of leaders fall into is thinking they need to be doing all.the.things. to drive change... BUT how much of what you’re doing is actually effective?

In this episode, I call out 5 things that are a complete waste of time during transformation and share what to do instead when your time is limited and there are many competing priorities.

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