by Daniel Raymond | May 1, 2010 | Corporate Transformation
New Business Paradigms and Old Problems
By John Bolden
The ability to respond to constant change and adopt new paradigms for success is based on information, ingenuity and insight and knowing exactly how to use them all to best advantage… But! Before one can take advantage of tomorrow’s thinking, one has to stop thinking inside the linear, insular, singular project box!
Time after time, we see cases where efforts to improve the business failed to meet expectations because the need was envisioned as though it were the only demand, plans were drafted as though the business will stand still in the meantime and the project executed as though it were the only project!
Demands to strengthen, improve, streamline, consolidate or reinvent the business are not linear, demand does not line up sequentially. Today’s demands will not be the same as last week and tomorrow’s will be different yet again…
The problem lies in the fact that how each demand is envisioned, planned and executed is bound by linear, insular, singular thinking. Read the Complete Article
by Daniel Raymond | Nov 21, 2009 | Change Management, Corporate Transformation
Mapping the Business Landscape
By John Bolden
“A Map of the Business Landscape Provides a Firm Foundation for Establishing Direction and Making Decisions about What Is, What Will Be and What has to Happen in Between…”
Essentially, the absence of clarity and cohesion about which processes and information sets intersect, interconnect and interrelate across the business (any business) is a major reason why so many good, worthy efforts to improve the business fail to meet expectations. Time after time, surprises arise:
- Processes that were not part of the original scope pop up everywhere, how and why these processes exist is one question, how and why these processes were not part of the original scope is another question entirely!
- Information repositories elsewhere in the organization already contain the information that this project will be creating from scratch!
- New Process need is addressed from a linear, insular perspective – collateral outcomes of processes elsewhere in the organization that are of value by being copied/reused or avoided at all costs are ignored!
Read the Complete Article
by Daniel Raymond | Oct 27, 2009 | Change Management, Corporate Transformation, Project Lifecycle Phases
Top 10 Project Initiation Questions – People Change Management
By Gail Severini
Are you launching a transformational project that demands cross-functional participation or adoption for success?
If your organization’s track record at such projects is less than stellar, or this is bigger than any other similar project the organization has undertaken, then you might want to consider how to improve engagement and commitment – traction.
People Change Management (PCM) describes the discipline of helping people change how they think about their work (in this application) and how they deliver. It encompasses culture (at the macro level) as well as models, processes and tools (at the tactical level) for improving the evolution.
How do you know if your organization is ready to benefit from these best practices? These questions are directional and are intended to undercover expectations and readiness:
- How risky is the project(s)? How complex?
- Has the organization attempted this, or similar projects, before?
Read the Complete Article
by Daniel Raymond | Sep 19, 2008 | Corporate Transformation
Corporate Transformation: Shooting at the Moon, Again!
By John Bolden
No matter what type of corporate transformation / business improvement initiative; no matter what size, scale, grandeur, cost, criticality or potential ROI; no matter what the reason or rationale… it is all but certain that whatever you wanted to do to improve the business did not meet expectations.
Along with whatever mediocre results, if any, that were actually delivered; you were probably inundated by a veritable deluge of cost overruns, delays, quality issues, business rebellions, vendor / consultant abandonment, stakeholder threats and sundry other issues and problems.
Take heart, you are not alone! Fully 75% of all efforts to improve the business fail to meet expectations. Cold comfort in your hour of frustration perhaps; however, since you probably want to find out why what was otherwise a neat, good and slick idea to improve the business blew up, take a few moments to consider Shooting at the Moon! Read the Complete Article
