Behavior Modification: Making it Fun November 18, 2009
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, Lean Thinking, change management.Tags: change management, creativity, Lean Thinking
add a comment
One of the biggest problems with process improvement is sustainment. One way to help make change stick is to make the new method rewarding and…well…FUN!
In these two videos, watch what happens when a set of stairs was converted to a giant piano keyboard. If your goal was to increase people’s level of exercise and discourage the use of the escalator right next to the stairs, you’ve succeeded. In the second clip, a sound effect machine was placed in a trashcan giving the effect of the sound of a freefalling object into the world’s deepest garbage receptacle. In one day, 72kg of garbage was collected in the outfitted trashcan, while normal trashcans nearby collected 41kg less.
As one comment points out, your interpretation of this concept need not be as quirky, but the idea is key: How can you make the new method of doing business more rewarding and fun than the old one?
Videos of both innovations were collected by Kevin Meyer here.
Why So Many Minds Think Alike January 26, 2009
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, change management.Tags: change management, creativity
1 comment so far
Decades of research show people tend to go along with the majority view, even if that view is objectively incorrect. Now, scientists are supporting those theories with brain images.
Read the details here
.
Building Cultural Acceptance Key to Lean Transformation January 6, 2009
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Lean Thinking, change management.Tags: change management, Lean Thinking
add a comment
Tom Cluley, a veteran of Wiremold’s lean transformation, observes that most organizations are addicted to quick fixes and immediate results. If they don’t get the immediate gratification they seek, they may abandon the team, partner or program in search of the next best thing. This need for immediate results has caused the demise, or limited success, of many improvement programs.
Why does Lean work in some organizations and not in others? In short, says Cluley, the difference between success and failure is in cultural acceptance and the ability of an organization to accept change, not just Lean change, but change in general.
He offers observations and tips on changing an organization’s culture in a posting on the iSix Sigma website, here.
Change Management: Who’s in Charge? December 14, 2008
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in change management, leadership.Tags: change management, leadership
add a comment
Often in the past, senior managers have given the people side of business change short shrift. They have dismissed change management – the process of engaging people at all levels in the design and implementation of an organization’s transition to a desired future – as soft and quirky and have inevitably blamed the activity itself for implementation failures.But today an increasing number of top teams in the C-suite understand the importance of change management and give it board-level attention. They recognize that no transformation gains traction without the buy-in and commitment of employees at all levels, particularly line managers. According to a recent Booz & Company survey of more than 350 senior executives who have led major transformation initiatives at large organizations around the world, four out of five transformation programs (82 percent) now have dedicated “people” work streams designed to engender changes to employees’ skills, behaviors, and attitudes. And 59 percent of supervising executives agree with this statement: “A successful transformation is due more to the people initiatives than to other elements of the program.”
Read the full Strategy + Business article here.
56 Reasons Why Most Corporate Innovation Initiatives Fail December 14, 2008
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in Creativity & Innovation, change management.Tags: change management, Creativity & Innovation
add a comment
Blogger Mitch Ditkoff ticks off 56 reasons that, quite honestly, apply not only to innovation initiatives, but to change initiatives in general. Seriously, how many of these have you seen in the past? More importantly, how many are guilty of RIGHT NOW?
See the list here. Print them out. Now go stand in front of the mirror. How many did you check off? Leave a comment and ‘fess up.
Author John Kotter on Why Urgency Matters During Change November 30, 2008
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in change management.Tags: change management
add a comment
Kotter’s new book, A Sense of Urgency (Harvard Business School Press, 2008), attempts to deconstruct change by focusing on what he believes to be the first step: driving an organizational culture built on the belief that change is not only desirable but must be pursued relentlessly. This alone can eliminate the risks of complacency, he argues. In his book, Kotter explores what it takes to maintain an urgent atmosphere in a corporation. First, allowing outside influences in; second, encouraging change consistently, on a daily basis, not just when it appears necessary; third, looking for the opportunities that arise in a crisis, no matter how dire; and fourth, adeptly managing the “no-nos” — employees who insist that change efforts just won’t work.
Read the discussion with Kotter in business+strategy magazine here.
