|
How Change Happens |
CIO Habitat Respondents (45 from large firms, 55 from midmarket companies) indicate that large-scale change has many potential sources, some internal and some external to a company. Understanding the source may help you get in front of some of these kinds of changes.
Internally Induced Change
• Adoption of new methodology (such as total quality management, Lean Six Sigma and the IT Infrastructure Library)
• Executive-mandated change
Externally Induced Change
• Bankruptcy or financial turnaround
• Introduction of a new CEO or CIO
• Divestitures
• Mergers and acquisitions
Technology-Induced Change
• Software deployments (such as enterprise resource planning systems)
• Enterprise hardware migration (i.e., from mainframe to client/server)
• Movement from in-house software development to offshoring/outsourcing
• Open source software
• Shared services
• Software as a Service
• The "Webification" of business processes
General Trends
• Information management (i.e., access to raw data and analytical tools, not just reports)
• Automating manual process
• Global operations
• Collaboration (i.e., eliminating the boundaries between those internal and external to the company, or "crowdsourcing")
• Partnerships in product development
• Re-engineering interfaces with customers
• Restructuring the IT department
• Re-thinking vendor relationships with vendors (i.e., reducing the number of relationships and creating tighter linkage with those that remain)
• Developing and maintaining 24/7 operations
--T.M.
|
Making Change Happen
In addition to these rules of the road, our research reveals two key suggestions and one absolute truth. First, as you institute change, give people choice. People are more willing to change if they have some control over the terms. Second, be more proactive in preparing for change. If you can get in front of major technological, societal and political trends, your path will be easier to navigate.
And finally, the bottom line is that IT leaders must make change personal for all stakeholders. Everyone has to see the merits of the new system, even if people also need to be guided toward acceptance of that system. The CIO for a midmarket distributor of plumbing, heating and cooling equipment told us a story that sums it up nicely.
"[As a young puppy], my dog refused to go on a hike with my wife and myself. The puppy locked her feet and refused to move, even when my wife tugged on the leash. My wife thought we should take [the dog] back to the car. I put a leash on her -- the dog, that is -- and just pulled her down the path. After about 30 feet, she quit pushing against the grain and started walking. She now loves to go on walks. [This approach applies in IT as well.] Basically, we try to filter out complaints that represent things we can change. We fix or enhance those. When we can't, ... we politely move on. Those that resist too much change are left behind when the train pulls out of the station. We are sensitively firm."
SURVEY METHODOLOGY: Researchers contacted 100 companies (45 large companies; 55 midmarket organizations) in 17 vertical markets: banking, construction, consumer electronics, education, entertainment, fashion, food, government, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, philanthropic, publishing, retail, services, technology and telecom.
Thornton May is a respected futurist, adviser and educator whose insights on IT strategy have appeared in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek and numerous computer industry publications. To comment on this story, email editor@ciodecisions.com.
|
 |
|
|
