The Chains of Change

  Change Management   Communications Management   Talent Management   Teams   ProjectsAtWork  

A successful change initiative at a division of a large metals processing company started with ‘over-communicating” to a burned-out, disillusioned team. By actively engaging the team, the project leader garnered much-needed buy-in, and enthusiam increased as the new technology platform delivered tangible results.

Successful change initiatives don’t occur in a vacuum nor are they isolated events. The enduring and successful change initiative is the result of linked steps and events, with each link building in a momentum that ultimately leads to the desired objective. These linkages are akin to the links in a steel chain and are the “Chains of Change.” These chains can lead to an initiative’s failure or success. In both cases, if we break a link, by doing something differently, we likely affect the final outcome. Naturally, we want to break the links in a potential Change Failure Chain and strengthen the links for a Change Success Chain.

Consider the example of a large metals processing company. The transportation division, while technically a separate company, owes most of its business to serving the larger organization. Through a series of poor-to-average managers and a general lack of initiative, this division is consistently posting losses. A new director of transportation is placed with the hopes that his experience and initiative will help …

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