Every Project Is a Change
From the Voices on Project Management Blog
by Cameron McGaughy,
Lynda Bourne, Kevin Korterud, Peter Tarhanidis, Conrado Morlan, Jen Skrabak, Mario Trentim, Christian Bisson, Yasmina Khelifi, Sree Rao, Soma Bhattacharya, Emily Luijbregts, David Wakeman, Ramiro Rodrigues, Wanda Curlee, Lenka Pincot, cyndee miller, Jorge Martin Valdes Garciatorres, Marat Oyvetsky
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Date
by Ramiro Rodrigues
Consider the following situation: You have worked a long time in your company and developed a certain level of expertise in their operations. You are familiar with the processes, tools and people.
One day, a consultant, hired by the board, arrives at your desk and lets you know that they are there to lead a review of the company's processes. As such, they will need some information about the way you work. It doesn't take long for you to realize that the consultant's job is to change your familiar operational format.
This scenario illustrates my main point: Every project is a change.
Organizations have an established understanding that standing still could be fatal to the survival of the business. They need to innovate and be faster than the competition. This is what motivates them to invest resources in pursuing these goals. Thus, the basis of every project is the facilitation of a change that will shift them from point "A" to point "B", which is, theoretically, more advantageous.
Everything would be perfect if our human reasoning didn't, for the most part, take us in the opposite direction. Instinctively, people do not like to mess with what they already know. (Unless, of course, they’re in situations that are uncomfortable. Even in these cases, they have their reservations.)
Our nature instinctively seeks out security and stability, which often is possible only through various mistakes and persistence. "Projects" are at odds with these principles because they are associated with the uncertainties and fears that the changes will bring.
Knowing this, if the individual in charge of a project wishes to succeed in their mission, they must develop interpersonal skills — the capacity to communicate, negotiate and intervene. These skills are part of the arsenal of resources that a good professional needs in order to persuade those involved to commit to change.
It is not easy. For this reason, professionals who are adept at these projects have gained increasing appreciation in the corporate market. This is because they take on the responsibility for ensuring that the investments made are not lost and the failure statistics are not intensified.
But human instinct will resist. In this scenario, one of the possible strategies is to adopt Charles Darwin's evolutionist principle, which is wholly befitting to today’s frenzied corporate world. It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one who can best adapt to change.
Posted
by
Ramiro Rodrigues
on: December 18, 2017 08:43 AM |
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Jorge Espinoza
Cybersecurity Lead| Growth Acceleration Partners
Heredia, Costa Rica
Every business needs to learn how to adapt their technologies and processes to its customers ' market.
Change is a constant factor in life - good article
I agree, every project is a change, but fortunately we always need changes in our lives. We need to know how to adapt to each change. Thanks for sharing, good article.
Great Post. Thanks for Sharing!
Sujith Kattathara
Founder, CEO| FreelanceTeams Private Limited
Ernakulam, Kerala, India
Ramiro,
We have all heard this - Change is the only constant. Probably true, too.
Just imagine this scenario 1:
You are a Subject-matter expert in a certain process in your organization. A Consultant duly arrives, with the objective of revamping the process. You are roped in, to provide insights & inputs, and you do, very faithfully. The Consultant develops a new process to replace the old process, and submits to you (among others) for review - and you determine that this submission is completely incorrect, infeasible, and inappropriate. However, your response is seen as "Resistance to inevitable change". What should you do? What are your responsibilities here?
Now imagine this scenario 2:
You are a Subject-matter expert in a certain process in your organization. A Consultant duly arrives, with the objective of revamping the process. You are roped in, to provide insights & inputs, and you do, very faithfully. The Consultant develops a new process to replace the old process, and submits to you (among others) for review - and you determine that this submission is completely incorrect, infeasible, and inappropriate. Your Superior reviews your response, and determines that he/ she does not agree with your findings, and your response is seen as "Resistance to inevitable change".
Bottomline: Change is constant, and so is resistance. The best Organizations would have in place appropriate checks and balances, to ensure that innovations & improvements take into consideration the ground realities & organizational/ industry-specific/ social/ geographical constraints - while not falling into an Analysis-Paralysis trap.
Ezara Penning
Systems Administrator I| Lincoln Land Community College
Springfield, Il, United States
This is a great article, thank you!
Luis Branco
CEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, Ldª
Carcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear Ramiro
Interesting this reflection on the theme: "Every Project Is a Change"
Thanks for sharing
Very important: "adopt Charles Darwin's evolutionist principle, which is wholly befitting to today’s frenzied corporate world. It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one who can best adapt to change"
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