Business Process Re-engineering, Process Improvement, Total Quality, & Paradigm Shifts
Understanding change in organizations and in people has been our passion for many years. It has affected our lives as no other undertaking has. Along the way, we have learned a great deal that can help organizations manage change in any part and at any scale needed. Let us share a few things we’ve learned. These ideas may serve you as "thought starters" as you reflect on your organization and it’s needs. If you are interested in more of these "insights", let us know and we’ll expand the discussion.
- Often the changes required to make an organization healthy and effective are not what anyone expects. There is a discovery process that unfolds as the organization is looked at with fresh eyes. What looked at first like a major Restructuring or Re-engineering project, may turn out to be an attitude problem or a question of redefining the outputs required at a critical interface of a core manufacturing process.
- Often what needs to change is how people think about their jobs, rather than the machines they work with. It helps to begin by examining the outputs or results of an organization, and trace those results back through it’s inner workings, rather than beginning by examining the systems and structures first.
- Too often top managers are ready to restructure or simply replace the manager in charge without a real understanding of the nature of the problem. The answer to their problem may lie in an entirely different approach than they have considered.
- Another thing we have been struck by has to do with the dynamic forces needed for change to occur. Is there enough discomfort or compelling opportunity to drive the change process? Is there wide enough and deep enough commitment within the organization to sustain the change effort despite the inevitable obstacles? It is relatively easy to develop a good action plan for transformation, but much harder to develop the organizational will needed to make it happen.