I feel like we spend a great deal of time re-naming or re-packing different processes and methodologies. Half of our arguments between these methods do little to improve either process. It is a shame because most have a lot to learn from the other. I can hardly think it will change; we have been doing it for centuries. Countries, religions and organizations have splinted apart and depending on if you’re looking at the glass half-empty or half-full; this evolvement could be called growth in some circles and in other circles, well let’s not name it.
In the broad scope of change efforts, there seems to be a new method developed daily. We could argue that it is needed in today’s world because of the ever growing complexity that is somehow being solved or attempting to be solved by big data. You would think big data would minimize complexity, but that is another blog post in itself.
Change is difficult. I always wonder why we complicate the process with untested processes. Why not use a process that works, so that your failure to change will be the result of the change not the process. Do I make sense? I learned this message in project management, and I apologize because I no longer remember where I heard this, but it went something like this, “How many good ideas are lost because of a poor plan”. I tried to Google it, but Obama Care was the first 80 million results. No kidding, try it.
The secret to having a chance in your change effort is to start with a plan that works. Lean, of course, in its most basic sense is nothing more than a change management system. Even as an avid follower of Lean, I still rely on another change formula that is well structured and has stood the test of time. It is very project-centered, well-scripted and flexible enough to be used in a variety of ways. It is John Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Change introduced in Leading Change. I wrote about how I use it in the blog post The Missing Link in Continuous Improvement SALES (Not What You Think).
As I have taken the time the last several years to spend more time with this method, I have become much more reliant upon in my everyday work. I use over and over again to assist companies internally and even more so externally in developing product platforms. I have included a shortened version of the mind map that I use and is not even a bad way of setting up a Trello board for a change effort. Let me know your thoughts?
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