By John Ahlman
Let’s face it: Change is hard. Really hard. When I ask myself honestly if I’ve been able to successfully drive really meaningful transformation and change in my organization, I’d say I’ve done it. But certainly not all the time. And when it happened it came with a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
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In preparation for our simple@work event this February I reflected back on those times when we transformed our organization. I wanted to see what those success stories had in common, and what helped us break through. One answer kept creeping through — and it wasn’t a process, place or thing. It wasn’t a technology, method or scheme.
It was the degree to which we backed that change with the organization and all of our resources. Change happened when we realigned our organization, which made us get very serious about the new direction.
How You Organize Speaks Louder Than Words
Think about in your organization. We all can recall when we’ve simply added the new job — or made a change to a well-established department or team — only to be frustrated by the slow- pace and lackluster performance. It’s why one system is always better than two, and why there’s a saying: “Old habits are hard to break.”
Couple that new organization with focused goals, clean metrics and support from the rest of the organization, and now the ball is rolling.
So the next time you’re trying to propel change in your business, think about the potential changes you can make in your organization. Send a clear signal to all that you’re serious about the new strategy, and that it is a new day in your office.
At simple@work (convening Tuesday in London) we’re talking about organizational alignment in a very dynamic period of business change to help you transform. It’s a conversation we like to have with our clients every day. Feel free to join in @XeroxEvents or #SimpleAtWork.
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