Labyrinth Strategy and Change Management Consultants

The following was adapted from an in-depth article written by RLCaldwell, Labyrinth Strategy and Change Consultants™ and provides insights into why strategy and large-scale change initiatives often tend to achieve lackluster results.

Strategy and change management competencies are a specific set of organizational skills and training that need to be acquired. It is not an intuitive process. It is not about a handful of steps, warm fuzzy practices or feel good exercises that create hope, but provide minimal solutions or results that create measurable and meaningful improved performance…

The Duh-Factor©
Strategy, change and performance improvement initiatives that are poorly designed and/or poorly implemented will result in an extensive depletion of the following:

For several years, management and employees have been asked to do more with less and have become weary of flavor-of-the-month ‘silver bullet’ performance improvement initiatives, which tend to start out with a bang and cross over the finish line with a limp. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Rather than going from one flavor-of-the-month program to the next, the organization can begin to realize real success and ROI across multiple functions and stakeholders in any strategy, change or performance improvement initiative that it elects to design and implement…

How Can I Promise Results When the Average Industry Standard Success Rate is Below Thirty Percent*?

One: I do not believe achieving ‘efficiencies’ at the expense of ‘effectiveness’ nor short-term wins at the expense of long-term consequences. Rather, I am committed to creating value-added results and impact that is sustainable, creating results through people, and measurable organizational performance improvement. It’s that simple.

Two: I have made strategy, large-scale change, organizational development, performance improvement and executive coaching my passion and career for the past twenty-five years. Formal education and theory? You bet! Real world experience as both an executive within organizations and as an external consultant? You bet!

Three: I understand the reality of organizations, how work actually gets done and the roadblocks that often prevent management and employees from performing at or close to optimum; culture, leadership, competencies, competition for resources, workforce environment, processes, systems, alignment, incentives, and politics.

*60-80% of Large-Scale Organizational Initiatives Involving Strategy, Change, and Organizational Performance Improvement are Reported as Continually Achieving Lack-Luster Results - It is Damaging to Both Careers and the Organization!

Strategy and change management competencies are a specific set of organizational skills and training that needs to be acquired. It is not an intuitive process. It is not about warm fuzzy practices or feel good exercises that create hope, but provide minimal solutions.

It is about helping management and employees learn and understand critical steps within the overall strategy, including how, when and why steps need to be deployed at specific critical times. It is about quality of design and quality of implementation, including metrics that measure actual value-added results linked directly to strategy, processes, systems, overall organizational alignment at the individual, group and organization level.

Someone facilitates a group meeting, team feels good, ideas flow, group disbands, and within days or weeks there is a significant loss synergy, support, and interest with minimal progress made. Validation for actual major improvements in performance? Not likely. Lots of applause for the activities.

Does This Sound Familiar?

Separating Strategy and Change from the Human Factor is a Prescription for Failure. The above illustrates both issues and opportunities that relate directly to people, and people can elect to support or derail any strategy. Simply issuing an edict, expectation, or request will not create the needed commitment or movement forward.

Conclusion

The foundation for the effective design and implementation of strategy, change and performance improvement is a unique set of competencies that can be both learned and transferred among groups. It is not an intuitive process, which is why Labyrinth Strategy and Change Consultants developed twenty modules that can be used to lead small to large groups through both the process and critical steps inherent within large-scale change, strategy and performance improvement initiatives. There are modules designated to improve market share; examine a sales strategy for overall quality of design and implementation; increase effectiveness of shared-services; or large-scale change to create organizational alignment and performance improvement across multiple functions – with a promise for meaningful results.

Each module is similar to having one of our consultants on-site for a day, leading the group or individual through various steps of a particular critical component found within strategy, change and performance improvement best practices. It is about moving the organization forward….

Smile sheets consist of data that has been eschewed to create the appearance of positive results.

"Consequences," in this context, does not imply penalizing individuals and or groups that are learning, driving innovation, taking educated risks and needed due diligence required to address the required details to avoid error and prevail against obstacles and or being a positive deviant in raising red flags regarding issues of likely project or failure; rather, it implies that when an individual or team consciously elects to view best practices as “suggestions” only, elects to minimize critical steps and or ignore feedback, resulting in a substantial negative impact on the organization and critical stakeholders, there needs to be consequences, rather than simply permitted to repeat the same or similar behavior at another time.
(C) rlcaldwell, Labyrinth Strategy and Change Consultants

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: WHILE THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR HAVE USED THEIR BEST EFFORTS IN PREPARING THIS ARTICLE AND MODULES, THEY MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OF COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS ARTICLE OR MODULES AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES REPRESENTATIVES OR WRITTEN SALES MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR SITUATION

All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Copyright © 2009 by Labyrinth Strategy and Change Consultants, RLCaldwell

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Reality Check

**How Can I Promise Results When the Average Industry Standard Success Rate is Below Thirty Percent*?**

*60-80% of Large-Scale Organizational Initiatives Involving Strategy, Change, and Organizational Performance Improvement are Reported as Continually Achieving Lack-Luster Results - It is Damaging to Both Careers and the Organization!

Does This Sound Familiar?

Conclusion




	Reality Check The following was adapted from an in-depth article written by RLCaldwell, Labyrinth Strategy and Change Consultants™ and provides insights into why strategy and large-scale change initiatives often tend to achieve lackluster results. Visit our blog for topical discussions on today's business practices. Stop Celebrating Activities – Start Celebrating Results! WHY 70% OF STRATEGY & CHANGE INITIATIVES FAIL Increase Your Rate of Success Strategy and change management competencies are a specific set of organizational skills and training that need to be acquired. It is not an intuitive process. It is not about a handful of steps, warm fuzzy practices or feel good exercises that create hope, but provide minimal solutions or results that create measurable and meaningful improved performance… The Duh-Factor© Strategy, change and performance improvement initiatives that are poorly designed and/or poorly implemented will result in an extensive depletion of the following: financial resources; loss of revenue and minimal ROI management and employee time, increased workload and diminished commitment management and employees perception of “this too shall blow over” in regards to yet, another organization ‘initiative’ that won’t receive the needed support and follow-through required to create the desired results frustrated employees and customers waiting for needed changes to be implemented in an effective manner versus a spin, smile sheets* or a public relations mantra negative impact on image; perception of company or function failing to once again deliver-on-its-promise initial problems and opportunities continue to be superficially addressed manifestation of new problems exist as a direct result of above For several years, management and employees have been asked to do more with less and have become weary of flavor-of-the-month ‘silver bullet’ performance improvement initiatives, which tend to start out with a bang and cross over the finish line with a limp. It doesn’t have to be that way. Rather than going from one flavor-of-the-month program to the next, the organization can begin to realize real success and ROI across multiple functions and stakeholders in any strategy, change or performance improvement initiative that it elects to design and implement… *How Can I Promise Results When the Average Industry Standard Success Rate is Below Thirty Percent? One: I do not believe achieving ‘efficiencies’ at the expense of ‘effectiveness’ nor short-term wins at the expense of long-term consequences. Rather, I am committed to creating value-added results and impact that is sustainable, creating results through people, and measurable organizational performance improvement. It’s that simple. Two: I have made strategy, large-scale change, organizational development, performance improvement and executive coaching my passion and career for the past twenty-five years. Formal education and theory? You bet! Real world experience as both an executive within organizations and as an external consultant? You bet! Three*: I understand the reality of organizations, how work actually gets done and the roadblocks that often prevent management and employees from performing at or close to optimum; culture, leadership, competencies, competition for resources, workforce environment, processes, systems, alignment, incentives, and politics. 60-80% of Large-Scale Organizational Initiatives Involving Strategy, Change, and Organizational Performance Improvement are Reported as Continually Achieving Lack-Luster Results - It is Damaging to Both Careers and the Organization! Several Reasons Help Perpetuate this Cycle Design and implementation of strategy, change and performance improvement initiatives continues to be oversimplified in books, articles, and training, creating an illusion that by merely implementing a series of generic activities complemented by a setoff minimal steps, usually accompanied by feel-good exercises, success will magically materialize. Change strategy and performance improvement initiatives often are taught as a ‘training’ and/or speaker event with minimal focus and alignment to strategy and commitment tactually improvements in organizational performance. Strategy and change management“success” often is defined and celebrated by applauding a flurry of activities; rather than actual results and impact created -positive and negative- on the organization and multiple critical stakeholders. Fuzzy accountability for success coupled with lack of transparency. While issues may be identified, actual robust follow-through to address issues and opportunities in a sense of quality and urgency (SQU)© may never fully materialize or be superficial at best. The result? Loss of management and employee commitment. Fuzzy accountability further promotes lack of responsibility for establishing critical metrics that have the capability to accurately measure result sand impact versus activities and smile sheets. Individuals who may not have the needed expertise, time, resources and or commitment often are appointed to design and implement the needed change. An executive team may support the needed strategy and change, but transfer overall responsibility for its design and implementation to an internal service group that may be perceived as lacking strategic skills and or being risk-averse, setting up both groups for failure. *Consequences for change management strategies and performance improvement initiatives that produce mediocre results often are minimal*. Lack of consequences dissuades organizational learning and accountability, further encouraging the same cycle to be continually repeated: depletion of resources, talent, and finances, while encouraging the organization to move effortlessly from one flavor-of-the-month initiative to the next and minimal effective* change actually taking place. Consequences does not mean to infer penalizing people – but rather creating an environment,which encourages organization learning, increased personal and cross-functional accountability for designing and implementing initiatives that achieve the desired results, including candid discussions and addressing issues and opportunities with a sense of quality and urgency(SQU)… Strategy and change management competencies are a specific set of organizational skills and training that needs to be acquired. It is not an intuitive process. It is not about warm fuzzy practices or feel good exercises that create hope, but provide minimal solutions. It is about helping management and employees learn and understand critical steps within the overall strategy, including how, when and why steps need to be deployed at specific critical times. It is about quality of design and quality of implementation, including metrics that measure actual value-added results linked directly to strategy, processes, systems, overall organizational alignment at the individual, group and organization level. Someone facilitates a group meeting, team feels good, ideas flow, group disbands, and within days or weeks there is a significant loss synergy, support, and interest with minimal progress made. Validation for actual major improvements in performance? Not likely. Lots of applause for the activities. Does This Sound Familiar?* Someone facilitates a group meeting, team feels good, ideas flow, management and employees feel they are heard, group disbands, flurry of activities takes place. Within days, weeks or a few months, there is a significant loss of synergy, support, interest and minimal progress. 1. Validation for actual major improvements in performance? Not likely? 2. Smile Sheets? Yes. 3. A lot of Applause for activities? Yes. (e.g., smile sheets pertain to eschewed data to present an appearance of positive outcomes). An executive, employee or group may be technically competent, but lack the needed vision and/or commitment required to collaborate effectively with employees, peers or groups across the organization…thus the best solution for the larger organization takes aback seat… An executive may have the vision and commitment required to initiate change, but lacks the technical competency to lead his/her own team to improved performance. An executive may fail to hold his/her team accountable for specific standards and the group is not aware it is not fulfilling its commitment… An executive may lack the emotional intelligence required to create an energized work environment committed to embracing and supporting the needed change. A team may be comfortable with the status quo and elect not to perform at a higher level . . . Members of a group may recognize the need for change,but may not receive the needed support from its management and or personal team members to make the necessary changes Separating Strategy and Change from the Human Factor is a Prescription for Failure. The above illustrates both issues and opportunities that relate directly to people, and people can elect to support or derail any strategy. Simply issuing an edict, expectation, or request will not create the needed commitment or movement forward. Conclusion People can and will always have the ability to impact an organization’s success in the design and implementation of effective strategy, change and performance improvement initiatives, which is why it is critical to assure that management and employees have the needed tools, education, understanding and coaching to build the above as a specific competency within the organization and at each function level. It is more than identifying issues and opportunities. It’s more than exercises and ‘training’. It’s about how to actually move the organization forward in a way that is meaningful for multiple stakeholders and creates actual measurable results in improved organizational performance that is both valued and sustainable. The foundation for the effective design and implementation of strategy, change and performance improvement is a unique set of competencies that can be both learned and transferred among groups. It is not an intuitive process, which is why Labyrinth Strategy and Change Consultants developed twenty modules that can be used to lead small to large groups through both the process and critical steps inherent within large-scale change, strategy and performance improvement initiatives. There are modules designated to improve market share; examine a sales strategy for overall quality of design and implementation; increase effectiveness of shared-services; or large-scale change to create organizational alignment and performance improvement across multiple functions – with a promise for meaningful results. Each module is similar to having one of our consultants on-site for a day, leading the group or individual through various steps of a particular critical component found within strategy, change and performance improvement best practices. It is about moving the organization forward…. Smile sheets consist of data that has been eschewed to create the appearance of positive results. "Consequences," in this context, does not imply penalizing individuals and or groups that are learning, driving innovation, taking educated risks and needed due diligence required to address the required details to avoid error and prevail against obstacles and or being a positive deviant in raising red flags regarding issues of likely project or failure; rather, it implies that when an individual or team consciously elects to view best practices as “suggestions” only, elects to minimize critical steps and or ignore feedback, resulting in a substantial negative impact on the organization and critical stakeholders, there needs to be consequences, rather than simply permitted to repeat the same or similar behavior at another time. (C) rlcaldwell, Labyrinth Strategy and Change Consultants LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: WHILE THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR HAVE USED THEIR BEST EFFORTS IN PREPARING THIS ARTICLE AND MODULES, THEY MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OF COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS ARTICLE OR MODULES AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES REPRESENTATIVES OR WRITTEN SALES MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR SITUATION http://www.labyrinthstrategyandchange.com (614) 760-7216 All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Copyright © 2009 by Labyrinth Strategy and Change Consultants, RLCaldwell top ^
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