You Want Change. You Also Want Results
Consultative selling is a very useful sales process. You spend quite a bit of time figuring out just what a customer wants before you do anything. Then you work with the customer to make sure that you are both on the same page. Then - and only then - do you propose on the customer's needs. It is a very useful method based largely on The One Minute Sales Person (Johnson).
Palermo uses a similar methodology for change management. He says look first at the current state of the organization and then look at the new, desired state (Palermo, Leadership, 38) and identifies six generic stumbling blocks to actually making the changes you desire:
- Reward and Recognition
- Key Measures
- Strategies and Action Plans
- Focused Training
- Role Model Senior Leader Behavior
- Focused Communications.
The title of this posting could also be, "You Want Change. You Also Want Results. Now." If it were only so easy. Have a look at the list. Fail at any one of the six items and your initiative is likely to fail. A crucial suggestion: admit defeat early. Plan for success. Measure yourself as you go into the change initiative to make sure you are ready for all six steps. If you are not ready, rectify the weaknesses early in the process (Palermo, 10-4). Don't wait around. Your action plans will include measureable objectives. That makes sense. Your team, especially the ones that didn't actually participate in the design of your change plan, won't really understand what is going on. Paint them a picture (Bridges, 55). Visual aides work, of all sorts. Meeting and discussing with all the different constituents of the change process also makes sense. Face-to-face. That takes time, yes. It also ensures that your change process has a better chance of success.
References
Bridges, William. Managing Transitions. Making the Most of Change. Addison Wesley. 1991.
Johnson, Spencer, M.D. and Larry Wilson. The One Minute Sales Person. Avon Books. 1984.
Palermo, Richard C., Sr. Do the Right Things...Right. It Is That Simple. A Step-by-Step Guide to World-Class Performance. The Strategic Triangle, Inc. 2003.
Palermo, Richard C., Sr. Leadership...A Return to Common Sense. A Leader's Common Sense Playbook for Uncovering the Right Things...and then Doing Them Right! The Strategic Triangle, Inc. 2006.