The Past, Present and Future of Change Management: Part 2

Last week I offered a very quick and truncated history of change management as the lead up to my talk with the College of Organisational Psychologists Community of Practice on The Past, Present and Future of Change Management. This week I deal with...

The Present

Which brings us to now.  A time I see as being characterised by fragmentation and confusion. To a large extent  this is attributed to the long history of change management occurring from multiple management approaches (see last week).  Each management lens has been responsible for creating a particular flavoured change manager. Some whose specialist activities are rooted in the Scientific Management tradition will practice change management very different from some-one who is schooled in the Human Relations tradition.So today we come to a place where change managers come to their practice from very varied backgrounds (IT, HR, Training, Psychology, HR, OD, Management, Communication). This is a double edged sword. On one hand you have a wealth of different perspectives on organisational life. Variety and diversity in practice should not be something we shy away from. But on the other hand this leads to inconsistency in fundamental assumptions, models to be used, and the language we use. It is no surprise that employers and clients are confused about who to bring in to do the work required.This lack of clarity in role is further amplified by the confusion about whether a change manager is a contractor, consultant or in-house. Whether they are tactical and hands on, delivery focused or strategic, conceptual and focused on diagnostics and strategies. I tried to pick up on this issue last year in my post “What is a real change manager”. The volume of comments suggest this is a hotly contested field.The present is also dominated by the “70% of change projects fail” myth.  For the last thirty years various studies have been conducted show that an alarmingly high proportion of projects “fail”. This has resulted in the statistic becoming a monolithic big stick. It is brandished at potential clients “70% of all change projects fail – therefor you need me”. It is brandished at change managers “if after 30 years 70% of change projects still fail you must be doing something wrong, lift your game.Well here’s the deal on why it is a myth. Very few of those studies control for change management activity (eg was there a change manager / change management team involved). Most of them are comparing apples with oranges Very few of the success metrics represent success from a change perspective (user adoption increased, new behaviours enacted, were the benefits realised in anyway?)Of the studies that do control for change management (eg MckInseys and Towers Watson), it’s a very different story. We desperately need more of the control variable studies, and less of the mindless repetition of studies that permit the brandishing of big sticks.  How much more useful is it to be saying that companies who apply change management are 2.5 times more likely to financially outperform their peers? (Towers Watson 2011/2012 Change and Communication ROI). Let me just say, there is no way that 70% of my change initiatives have “failed”. Nor most of the peers I work with. Certainly some projects have been compromised, but systems still went live, values and cultures shifted, and processes have changed.It should be no surprise then with clients and organisations being terrified by the prospective of 70% changes failing, that the confusion of the current state has been amplified by the opportunistic folk who have seen potential in the industry and have repositioned as change management consultants and contractors without the requisite knowledge and experience. This aint helping the fragmentation.What I omitted in the presentation though is that the present is very much represented by mature and experienced change management practitioners, models that are more or less useful, and a recognition by business leaders that change management is critical to business success. It just takes a little while to work out who is who and which way to go for those who are not familiar with the field.Next week I get the crystal ball out -- but in the interim, what else are you seeing now.The Past, Present and Future of Change Management Part 2