Who Killed Change?

A body lies dead on the floor with no apparent injury. Agent McNally races to the scene of the crime, the ACME organization. It was his third homicide case of the month all with the same last name Change. In a book written in the style of a Detective Colombo-style whodunit, motivational speaker and uber management author Ken Blanchard addresses the different factors in an organization that can maim or kill change. Nearly 70 percent of all change initiatives within a business fail, according to Blanchard, who co-authored the book Who Killed Change? with leadership consultant John Britt. Some die quickly while others die protracted, painful deaths that can dry up a companys morale and resources. With so many businesses trying to navigate their way through this topsyturvy economy. One by one, a list of thirteen suspects are interviewed, with the startling conclusion: they all contribute to the change process. Culture-the predominate attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that characterize change Commitment-a persons motivation and confidence to engage in new behavior required by the change initiative Sponsorship-senior leader who has formal authority to deploy resources toward change initiative Change Leadership Team-group of leaders with day-to-day responsibilities for executing change leadership strategies

 Communication-effective communication is critical Urgency-why change is needed and how quickly people must change Vision-clear and compelling vision allows people to see themselves succeeding Plan-A plan is important, but the process of planning is even more so Budget-analyze change from financial perspective, allocating limited resources to ensure healthy return on investment Trainer-provides learning experiences to develop skills needed to lead change Incentive-reinforces the desired behaviors and results that enable change Performance management-process that sets goals and expectations regarding behavior and results Accountability- process of following through with people to ensure behaviors and results are in line with agreed upon goals and expectations The book opens with the death of Change and follows with McNallys interviews of characters such as the myopic Victoria Vision, perennially late manager Ernest Urgency and Clair Communications, who is stricken with laryngitis. Bailey Budget tells Agent McNally that shes a firm believer that the amount of money invested in a given Change should be directly proportional to the investment of effort and quality of work being done by members of the team such as Spence Sponsorship, Perry Plan and Carolina Culture.

If these characters arent doing whats necessary to enable Change, there is no reason for me to commit any funds to a Change thats destined to fail, she tells McNally. After the mystery is solved, the 143-page book offers a helpful chapter exploring the best practices and related questions identifying where a given change is set up to succeed and where it might fail. For example, when looking at the issue of sponsorship related to change, it defines a sponsor as a senior leader who has the formal authority to deploy resources toward the initiation, implementation and sustainability of a change initiative. It then recommends how to strengthen sponsorship of change by taking action like making sure that sponsors are modeling the behavior expected of others. There are accompanying questions on the issue. For example, if your sponsors are not using the behaviors listed above, do they know they are expected to use those behaviors?