5 Myths That Hold Businesses Back From Successful Change

Dispelling these myths can help businesses of all sizes achieve effective change in our fast-paced era.

“New technology is the answer!”

In fact new technology might help, but without a focus on the underlying process and supporting cultural change, it won’t deliver the benefits your business is looking for. Like a new toy that looks shiny and fun, if it is not embedded within an efficient process and a supporting culture, you will be disappointed!

So frequently we see organisations that think their new technology is going to fix the world. Often we find that new technology just hides an underlying problem. So, with all due respect to the possibilities of new technology, if you haven’t integrated all the other aspects it will end up costing you far more than your expected and you possibly won’t maximise its true capacity.

“We need to gather all the data before we start!”

This is otherwise known as analysis paralysis. There is no better time to start than today! We still witness organisations that spend months and months scrolling through data to work out what they might want to do in the future. The world is changing so rapidly that by the time you finish going through all that data, it has probably changed again and you will need fresh data!

Today’s marketplace doesn’t sit around and waits for projects 12 months out. The world today is constantly changing and businesses that succeed are those changing with it. Effective decision-making is critical along with agile planning that can evolve with your business and the market within which you operate.

“Social media is not for us!”

As the old saying goes, “if you can’t beat them, join them”. Social media is for everyone whether you like it or not. Social media has revolutionised the way business is conducted and its impact is like nothing the world has ever experienced before.

If you don’t have social media incorporated within your overall strategy, you have a major problem! Your customer and client base are now interacting with you and your people constantly through social media. Your employees and customers alike are talking online about what they do and don’t like about you. Take a moment to Google your business name and see what comes up. You have as much of a problem if people aren’t talking about you as if they are! A social media strategy is truly a must for every 21st century business.

“We don’t need to spend money on process!”

This is incorrect because process is where you are hiding your inefficiencies. It is often the underlying cause of escalating costs and the missing link that is routinely – and mistakenly – discarded when trying to transform organisations.

The best way to think of process in your organisation is like DNA. All the strands outline how you work. Constantly we see organisations wanting to make transformational change, reduce cost and do things differently. However rarely do we see the approach come via process. Yet process dictates how your organisation operates, efficiently or otherwise.

In most cases we see that the approach is via new technology. “Don’t touch the process just change the technology!” is a common catch cry. However technology is simply a faster way to complete a process: technology is part of your process! It doesn’t matter what aspect of your business you decide to change, sitting underneath that will be a process.

If you truly want to be gain efficiencies and create a more agile, cost effective organisation, then trust us when we say you absolutely need to be looking at your process!

“Change management is part of the project”

No….change management is your project! It is literally how you will move from current state to future state. It is not something that sits as part of the project, it wraps around the overall project.

Done correctly, change management should be one of the first things that is considered when beginning a new program of work, and almost the last thing completed. Believe us when we say … get off to a bad start with no actual change management and it will be like walking up the side of an icy slope with skis on. You might think you are climbing quickly forward, but you will be sliding backwards at a rate of knots.

How you manage change will be the difference between embedding a sustainable solution or otherwise!