Executive Playbook

Change You Can Believe In - Best Practice in Change Management

2008-11-21T09:04:40-05:00

It seems more than appropriate that after the recent landmark presidential election, we talk about the significance of successfully managing a campaign of change. The night of Tuesday, November 4, 2008, was a symphony of historical upsets aka failed change initiatives. Both parties experienced this phenomenon to greater and lesser degrees throughout the many months of campaigning.

For the purposes of this blog, the primary focus will be on the consistent execution of successful change strategy of the 2009 President-elect, Barack Obama. Especially given that the odds, according to political pundits, were stacked against this particular outcome.

The latest statistics on change management continue to point definitively to the fact that more than 60% of change initiatives fail. IBM’s most recent global study on change management anchors and reinforces the point that people, not technology, are the most critical success factor in making change work.

Regardless of what side of the aisle you may be on, the election night marked two major milestones:

1. Significant cultural change

2. Successful execution of change management strategy

Since most organizations tend to get A’s in strategy and F’s in execution, how did the Obama campaign pull this off?

There are many change methodologies advocated by experts, but the one we have found in our practice to be most effective is attributed to John Kotter and revolves around 8 basic steps. It is the mastery of these 8 steps that facilitated the victory of the Obama campaign.

Let’s take a look at these steps one at a time.

1. Establish a Sense of Urgency - The Obama campaign cannot take full credit for establishing the sense of urgency given the U.S. backdrop of 2 wars being waged, the health insurance crisis, the economic meltdown, and the crisis of education, however they were able to leverage that reality by creating a powerful value proposition that reinforced the fact that we could no longer wait for things to happen. It was time to make things happen.

2. Create a Guiding Coalition - Republicans, Democrats and Independents all acknowledge that the Obama campaign did what others had never done quite as well and that was organize and galvanize a grass roots base that effectively sustained the sense of urgency and helped orchestrate the rest of the change process based on Obama’s vision. This particular guiding coalition included many young people who, up until his candidacy, had been passively engaged in previous political processes.

3. Develop a Vision & Strategy - President-elect Obama was able to paint a powerful picture of what the future could be if everyone worked together to achieve it. His messaging consistently focused on the power and potential of ‘We’.

4. Communicate the Vision - This was brought to life in the major message of the campaign, “Yes, We Can.” It was effectively used as both a rallying cry and a point of focus. There is and always will be tremendous elegance in simplicity.

5. Empower Broad Based Action - The coordination of the various campaign offices and activities across the country in reaching out and spreading the message was phenomenal. Campaigners went door-to-door, set up social networking sites online, set up campaign quarters in private homes and established virtual interest groups on the internet.

6. Accomplish Quick Wins- There were a number of things that happened early on that helped establish significant forward progress. While the list could go on and on, there are few things that are particularly noteworthy. An early endorsement from Oprah Winfrey, help launch the declaration of candidacy. As it turns out, an endorsement from Oprah doesn’t just drive books to the top of the best-seller list.

7. Leverage Gains to Accelerate Momentum – Statements of support from a few generations of Kennedy’s helped bring an additional level of credibility and confidence in the possibility of real change. Senator Ted Kennedy, in particular, left his home after recovering from brain surgery , against doctors orders, to speak at the Democratic National Convention in favor of an Obama candidacy.

8. Anchor New Approaches to Change Culture – Throughout this entire campaign process, the Obama campaign team has been supremely adept at balancing high tech and high touch better than any candidate to date and possibly years to come. President-elect Obama actually sat down with his Republican rival, John McCain in order to identify opportunities to work together.

These steps, taken together, triggered a profound sea change, marked a new page in history and choreographed a tightly coordinated cadence of millions of people which dictated the successful outcome.

Seeing ChangeWork is music to my ears. Play it again, Sam!

"We Have Met the Enemy and It is Us"

2008-10-18T23:16:25-04:00

I am always amazed at the unnecessary amount of time that managers spend fighting friendly fire inside their own companies. There is incalculable energy spent within many organizations by their management team trying to cover their ifs, ands, and butts. Given the incredibly competitive nature of the business environment, one would think that just staying one step ahead of the competition could mean lifetime employment for most of us. But no….

I am on a plane as I type this on my way back from meeting with a client who managed to successfully pull off a major mission impossible initiative. Talk about saved by the bell. It all started 60 days ago when I was called to their offices to discuss why they were having such a problem staying on the good side of one of their strategic accounts. This was the same account that was up for re-compete in the next 60 days. To say that the lead executives were a little concerned about keeping this particular customer would be a gross understatement. This particular account contributed better than 40% of the company’s revenue. The bottom line was... the reason they were having issues with their client was they just couldn’t seem to get out of their own way. Company executives somehow couldn’t fit in regular client visits with everything else they had going on.

I was hired to help them figure out how to successfully execute an 11th hour strategy to convince their customer that there was no need to engage in a competitive RFP for the next phase of the contract. My first step in this recovery mission was to meet with the customer. Fortunately, I was able to get in to see the CEO within 48 hours of calling to schedule the appointment. Unfortunately, in the first five minutes of our meeting, the CEO said, “I haven’t seen an executive from the vendor company since we originally signed the deal four years ago. I couldn’t pick one of their executives out of a lineup if my life depended on it.”

Clearly, this did not bode well for my client. When I reported my conversation with the CEO back to my client, instead of being outraged, he calmly acknowledged, “it was true.” He followed up with, “Can you help us or is it too late?”

As we all know, in the face of overwhelming odds, there are really two choices, fight or flight. My client wanted to fight for the right to keep the account. We immediately put in place an aggressive 45-day get-well-plan which included a personal apology CEO-to-CEO, assignment of a dedicated client executive responsible for managing the executive relationship, a clear quantification of the business value and operational impacts that had been delivered over the course of the 4-year engagement, and a satisfaction guaranteed service delivery policy. It was the longest 45 days of all of our lives. At the end of the day, the contract was saved. My client was lucky. However, all of the executives on both sides of the aisle agreed this situation never should have happened in the first place.

No matter what line of business or industry you’re in, there will always be competitors who want to take business away from you. But this is not a story about getting beat by the competition. This is a story about falling victim to friendly fire. This is about complacency and comfort and forgetting that even if you win, you can never stop selling the value you bring to your customers. Technology is great, but high tech will never be a global replacement for high touch.

When’s the last time you sat down with your client and discussed the real value you’ve brought to their business in additional to just meeting the terms and conditions of the contract?

Can your client executives pick you out of a lineup? If not, I strongly suggest you change that or rest assured they will. After all, they won’t miss what they never had.

Can We Learn Anything About Business From College Football?

2008-09-26T14:26:03-04:00

I happen to love college football! We are smack dab in the middle of another exciting football season and what better backdrop to evaluate game changing plays that make the day. Take for instance the recent USC versus Oregon State game. The indisputably ranked #1 USC Trojans lost to 25 point underdog,Oregon State Beavers 21-27. To quote sportswriter Michael Rosenberg, "That is the same Oregon State team that fell behind 45-7 to Penn State, and that's the same Penn State team that is not supposed to be on the same level as Ohio State, and that is the same Ohio State that got crushed 35-3 by USC."

How do upsets like this happen? USC was outplayed. Oregon State played to win. It's that simple and that complicated. In business the same rule applies. Whatever your ranking, if you lack the discipline that it takes to give 100% every time, all the time, you, too, will lose more than you win. It doesn't matter if you are going head to head with a competitor who's viewed by your potential customer as #1. Your single, most important priority is to clearly differentiate and demonstrate to this customer why you are their best choice. Talk is cheap. Don't tell them, show them! In every interaction, make sure you add value. Give them a compelling reason to want to see you again and again.

In this market of fierce competition, winning is not dictated by size or strength. Consistently winning deals, markets, clients, and yes, football games is a function of discipline and determination. If you don't believe me ask Warren Buffet, Jack Welch or heck, ask USC coach, Pete Carroll. How bad do you want to win? If you're not sure, or if you're tired or if you're not willing to make change, you've already lost. GAME OVER!

If you want to win in business, you've got to do what it takes to make that happen. Winning looks easy, but is always the result of the preparation, practice and the sacrifice that takes place before the first foot ever hits the field. In my many years of debriefing clients after deal losses, the outcome was usually the direct result of what the loser did unto themselves as opposed to what the competition did to them that made the critical difference. The investments of time, energy and resources they thought about but didn't make sealed the deal and their fate. Complacency kills. Change the rules, change the game. Get clear on your goal, fight for it because it matters, and watch who wins!