10 LESSONS ON ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE

I have stumbled upon an enlightening article, though belated, by productivity coach Esther Derby who shares her 10 lessons learned from supporting organizational change.

Her article, entitled 'A Manager’s Guide to Supporting Organizational Change' has appeared in the January 2006 issue of 'Crosstalk: The Journal of Defence Software Engineering'.

I still think that, from the strategic implementation standpoint, her insights are still relevant in today's organisational context.

The gist of her ten lessons is as follows:

1. Communicate a Compelling Reason to Change;

2. Communicate Formally and Informally;

3. Personalize the Message: What Does This Mean for Me?;

4. Acknowledge the Unknowns;

5. Surface Rumors and Fill in the Blanks;

6. Practice What You Preach;

7. Acknowledge and Build on What People Value;

8. Reframe Resistance;

9. People Do Not Resist Change, They Resist Coercion;

10. Empathize;

Interestingly, at least to me, her insights resonate with the battle cry of "90% of strategy is execution, while 90% of execution is communication' often exhorted by business nerds.

By the way, here's the weblink to her original article. More about about her & her consulting work can be found at her corporate website.