The Ying-Yang of Change

We all know that change is necessary for progress, but we all have problems with it. Organizations are challenged to generate more revenue per hour worked. There are a number of ways to get there. One is to cut costs and burden your partners or workers with unattainable goals. This is the favorite tactic of the CFO. The other is to raise revenue by having better products for new customers or sell more to your existing customers. This is the favorite tactic of the CMO. Another approach is to be more excellent in your approach to combining both tactics and pursue excellence in attaining both with process. This is the favorite approach of the COO.  No matter the approach or combination of approaches, people have to change and this is a very personal journey for these folks. There is a key dichotomy that these people feel. It is what I call the "Ying-Yang" of change. Focusing on change is really key for process efforts.    http://jimsinur.blogspot.com/2013/06/people-change-is-bpms-roadblock.html

See  http://www.james-sinur.com/digital-art/ for more of my fractals


People See the Need for Change: (Ying)

If you talk to folks honestly, they will tell you that they see a need to make things better. We all see ways of making things better including unnecessary activities, error cycles, opportunities for automation, opportunities for collaboration and ways to get to desirable business outcomes in better ways. We all secretly wish for better ways to complete work and create better relationships with customers. Is it a motivation or communication issue? I think there are deeper issues than just the traditional "carrot and stick" approach to solving this important challenge.

People are Deathly Afraid of Change: (Yang)

Everybody wants change, but nobody wants to change. Why is that? Everyone fears the process of change and fears the results might not be what is best for us. Also we, as experts of the current process, know how to work the process in force to get results for both the organization and ourselves. It takes a bold and secure person to embrace change and these kind of folks are pretty rare. Managers need to address these fear issues by communicating with more sensitivity and allowing people to try out the change without consequences.

Net; Net:

If you are working on process improvement, understanding and dealing with the "ying-yang" of change will be key for successful process efforts. Now that technology change is not in the critical path as much as in the past, because of the agility BPM technologies brings to the party, being excellent at people change becomes the desired skill set.