Change the way you change

For the last week I have been working with a large group of internal consultants expanding their understanding of the nature of change management and the role of consultants.  The participants of the programme, which is an accredited programme awarding certificates in consulting fundamentals, were already practitioners of change. However in their public service setting they were mainly concerned with and focused on the optimization of logistics and supply chain matters.  In their evolution they has used a number of sophisticated optimization tools, spread sheet and analytical engine based techniques to deliver improved efficiency and performance.  Unfortunately the success of this approach has made many of them, and their organization’s managers blind-sighted to many of the other approaches and alternative tools available to manage the successful change.

What  was most surprising to me was the lack of emphasis placed on the softer skills of consulting and change,  the relationship building and influencing skills.  The week was revealing in many ways… the depth of confidence and belief in the methods that the participants displayed,  the restricted range of approaches they used,  the organization constraints placed upon them ( by an organization clearly in need of change)  and the lack of engagement with the client that many of them expressed. It seemed the clients needs were secondary to getting work done.

As we progressed through the module of study and education,  there were many occasions where the sound of pennies dropping was akin to standing next to a slot machine paying out the  jackpot !

Relationships and influence are everything in change management ! No tool, regardless of provenance or power will work where there is no trust and credibility.  People chose to change, people chose to follow, people chose who to trust and these choices  are all based on relationship and influencing skills.

So what is my point in this post? If you work in change leadership, as an internal consultant or manager of projects then think about what you concentrate on when leading change, if its tools and processes then you need to change the way you change.  Influence is everything – any system can be made effective if the people who use it want it to work well. You role in leading change is creating the conditions for people to want to do a great job and get great outcomes, without influence you are playing the game with the dice loaded against you.