We dont "do" change

In South Africa there is currently an advertising campaign for one of the local beer brands that features Louis Gossett Jnr who teaches young men to "keep it real" - referring to authentic manly behaviour - and in the process he advertises the specific beer brand.

In some of the ads, Louis uses the words "we don't do..." and then adds the specific unmanly behaviour, such as "pink drinks" or calling roadside assistance when confronted with a flat tire, etc.

Far too many change management programmes we see today are characterised by a "we do change" approach, as if change (management) is something external to a business transformation or an information systems implementation project. If we think we can "do" change as something we are "doing to" the specific programme or project, change management will never be more that project communication and "balloons and sweets".

Organisational, team and individual change are serious - very serious.Taking the current global trend of employee disengagement, Change Practitioners must have a deep understanding of what they are dealing with in the first instance before designing and promoting a change programme that has absolutely nothing to do with assisting individuals, teams and therefore the collective organisation to adopt to the impact of the specific intervention at hand.

People regard their employment in a serious light especially when considering the impact of the current global economic downturn - a lot of people have lost their jobs and have suffered as result. So when people are subjected to interventions that potentially could alter or negatively impact their employment and their lives, these interventions must be handled in such a way that their fears and expectations are handled with integrity.

The test of integrity is the one that asks: how would I have preferred this change be handled if my job or position was affected by this project?

Whilst spending the past month or so on a SAP implementation project, I have again realised how great the irony is when considering the fact that businesses would spent literally millions on acquiring software as well as on contracting with implementation partners, then would have one "Change Practitioner" as part of the project team to "do Change Management". In no way does this makes any good business sense!

The problem with having a budget for an intervention such as an information system implementation and giving the CIO or IT Manager accountability for controlling the budget, will most surely result in an emphasis on the expenditure for licenses and implementation strategy, whilst expenditure on the "soft stuff" will ultimately needs to be "motivated" and "closely monitored", whilst it is the "soft stuff" that will ensure the success of the implementation.

Transformation and use of information systems changes the way people work in the organisation and it is serious - both from a organisation culture point of view and from a productivity point of view. When people are purposefully involved in, and actively made part of the design process in redesigning their new way of work, positive change happens and it is usually lasting.

Well-known case studies such as the Harley Davidson Story has proven that when leadership and management realise that they do not have all the answers, and that their behaviours are inflating the organisational problems, then something powerful has happened, paving the way for successful business transformation.

In my experience working in and with organisations over the past 20 years, purposeful (and truthful) Employee Participation remains the single most important contributor to positive organisational change.

So what are those Leadership and Management behaviours that could be called "Change Killers"?

• Lack of leadership when it comes to understanding people and the impact of organisational change on them in context of their work and their engagement;
• Western type "command and control" management styles - I think, you do;
• Viewing employees as "resources" that could be exploited in pursuance of profit;
• The view that introducing information systems will automatically result in an increase in productivity;
• Thinking that it is the functionality of of the information system that makes it a business fit as opposed to the reality that information systems are essentially social systems in the first place;
• Using the implementation of information systems to drive organisational transformation;
• No budget for the redesign of business processes when implementing information systems.

Can you think of more examples of leadership and management behaviours?