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The song

Have you ever heard the song “Everybody wants to go to heaven…”? It is a catchy little number and the lyrics that I recall spoke of “the land of milk and honey”, “streets paved with gold”, and other wonderful aspects one thinks of when one thinks about heaven. The song ends with the line, “Everybody wants to go to heaven… but nobody wants to die.”

This reminds me of leaders of organizations that really want their changes to go well. They invest in new software, initiate process improvements, reorganize or merge with other organizations, all in hopes of improved performance, customer satisfaction and higher earnings. They want their people to accept and adopt the changes they must make, and sustain those changes forever… but, nobody wants to invest (the time or resources) in improving the way they change!

The oft ignored characteristics

In so doing, these leaders ignore the telltale signs of potential failure:

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They have a poor history of these types of initiatives and their people are at the least skeptical, if they have not completely lost all faith.

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These leaders, and the management layers below them, communicate an initial commitment to this change, and then they move on to either day-to-day business, or to the next change. They disappear from the leadership positions, while expecting others to follow.

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They initiate change after change, expecting their subordinates to manage all of them, while doing their daily work delivering the “We’ve got to work smarter and harder” speech.

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They communicate an incomplete and or partial story about the change, ignoring the interdependencies of process, structure, skills and culture, or they fail to consider how they will make the transition.

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Their communications are focused on selling the benefits of the solution, in many cases from the corporate perspective, ignoring the real concerns and perspectives of the individuals that are affected by the changes. In many cases, they merely send the same email, repeatedly.

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Even worse, they communicate one set of priorities, train people to go in another direction, and measure and reward and model a third set of behaviors.

These leaders are in denial

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They expect the change to go well in spite of the fact that they are doomed to be met with resistance.

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They may get defensive when challenged about the above (a natural progression from anger to denial.)

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Some want to lead changes more effectively better and either don’t know how, or are measured and rewarded to continue these behaviors.

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Some don’t think they can afford to take the time to develop an improved capability for leading and managing changes.

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They keep doing things the same way and expect different results.

The Keys to Success

Depending on the study, somewhere around 75% of changes either run late, overrun their budgets, or do not yield the sustained results that were expected. The ROI used to justify the initiative is never realized. The first step for leaders like this is to realize and acknowledge that this might be the case with the change(s) they are currently sponsoring. If they don’t want to repeat the same mistakes, they should understand where they tend to fall short and invest in some corrective actions. They should be asking “What causes this, what can we do differently, who would need to be involved and what are their roles?”

How can I help?

If any of this sounds like someone you know have them contact me. What greater gift can you give them than to forward this to them, so that they can begin to consider the consequences of their actions? I can either help them correct this behavior, or provide the words and the melody line to “Everybody wants to go to heaven… but nobody wants to die.”

ECM is dedicated to helping leaders lead changes and ensuring that their changes are managed to effectively implement, maximize and sustain the improvements they seek for the organization.

Please contact ECM Expert Change Management if you,

or someone you know, would like to discuss the above.

Speaking Topics:

Bob’s recent and planned speaking topics include:

• Financials, Strategic Thinking and Change Management

• Maximize the results of your Consulting by Managing the Resistance to Change!

• Managing People’s Acceptance, Adoption, and Sustainment of Change

• Developing and Implementing Strategic Ideas; From Seeds to Harvested Results

• The Critical Requirement for Leading, as well Managing, Change

Bob Dodge can be reached at 303 550-0101

bdodge@expertchangemanagement.com

Visit www.expertchangemanagement.com for more information about ECM

and to manage your subscription to Get Acceptance, Get Results! news