The New Book “Change Insight” Introduction Chapter 6 The Pitfalls in Change Management

Change is inevitable, and the speed of change is increasing. How capable the business is handling change would directly impact on the business competency. In fact, there is a high failure rate of Change Management statistically, and more than two-thirds of business change effort fail to achieve its expectations. So what are the big barriers and potential pitfalls on the way, and how to improve change success rate, as well as craft change as an ongoing digital capability?
Silo Mentality: Silo mentality is a common challenge for lots of organizations to make change sustainable and ensure the business as a whole is superior to the sum of pieces. In essence, with silo mentality, organizations lose their collaborative advantage as they are being over managed and under led, remain disconnected, hoard knowledge and power within silos, have change inertia, and do not have the competence to collaborate in the long term. Even nowadays, businesses have stepped into the hyper-connected digital world, many business managers and professionals still apply old silo management mindsets to new ways of organizing, and this legacy to the old economy limits many “networked” organizations. In today’s volatile economy, nothing impedes change and progress more than protective silos which are simply a form of bureaucratic management amorphous mass designed to preserve the status quo. Hence, the breakdown of silo mentality is one of the important requirements for Change Management success.
Fixing the symptom, not the root cause: Change will never be for its own sake, it is always for solving business problems and making improvement for achieving betterness. However, many change leaders and decision-makers fail to fully grasp or accurately perceive what leads to problems and difficulties. Often, they try to fix a symptom, not the real problem which is stifling staff creativity, innovation, and communication. Often time, people have a tendency to fix a symptom which results from the actual cause of the problem. When you do this, you sometimes through good money after bad. You allow problems to grow under the surface, out of sight, out of mind, until it’s too late. Until the underlying problem is addressed, the symptom or result will continue to return. So trying to fix the wrong cause of a problem is a pitfall in Change Management because it will waste time and resources, increase anxiety, and leave industries full of opportunists who see rewards by offering solutions that address symptoms rather than real problems. And change can not be sustained, even worse, it causes more chaos, not order.
“Pseudo-involvement” is another pitfall in Change Management: “pseudo-involvement” is a pretense of engagement. The word “pseudo” has the connotation of negative meaning such as “phony,” “false,” and “manipulative.” The “button” that gets pushed is that leaders often assume they can pretend to involve people, but actually, do not intend to pay attention to their input at all. Over the long run, the pseudo-involvement fails to engage employees and overcome resistance. Such a peril of Change Management can waste a lot of resources and cause a lot of pains. Change can not be just another thing that needs to be accomplished, it has to be woven into communication, process, and action of the organization. For example, if leaders are genuinely open to input, social media, and workshops, they can transform staff emotion from pseudo to enthusiastic, and move from denial to resistance to exploration to commitment. get employees really engage in changing process via providing input, developing process and making both mind shift, and behavior change.
The business speed can only be accelerated with a clear vision, strong focus, and distinctive capabilities. By closing all those fatal blind spots, an organization can be well prepared to effectively and efficiently absorb and accept changes in all its forms. The intention is to enable an inclusive digital leadership culture at all levels across the organizations for clearing the path and taking a digital leap confidently.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu