A few personal thoughts on why business change projects that are led by technology so often fail to deliver on their promise.

1. The Problem with Technology
Enabled Change Projects
Why they fail more often than not
What you can do about it
How we can help

2. Large scale, IT enabled, change projects have a dismal record
of success
There are few senior business executives who do not bear the emotional,
intellectual and career scars of a failed IT led change project that did more
harm than good.
There are few middle managers who haven't felt ignored or exposed by a
change program that seemed doomed from the start.
There are few long-term staff who haven't built up cynicism from visionary
promises that are never quite matched by reality.
Technology is not a silver bullet.

3. It isn't because we don't know how to deliver
There are many excellent project management disciplines (Prince2, PMBOK,
Agile (SCRUM, Atern) etc)
There are published frameworks that put projects in the context of
programmes and portfolios for better governance (P3O...)
There are detailed standards and models for service delivery (CMMI, ITIL...)
There are people who are highly qualified and experienced in these areas.
….but we still get huge project failures.

4. But project management focuses on the project
There is an inward looking aspect to project management methods. Project
management focuses on managing projects better, not on better outcomes.
This is hardly surprising, one of the central tenets of project management is to
manage the scope of the project and to agree what constitutes the end of the
project.
With this deliberately constrained view, it is entirely possible for a project to
deliver all the functional requirements, finish on time and budget and yet still
have an unsuccessful outcome for the business.

5. Successful delivery does not guarantee successful outcomes
Every technology implementation project is a change project that includes
technology, people, processes and (often) politics.
Even when we deliver a project that meets the agreed requirements, is on
time and on budget and to quality standards, there is no guarantee that it will
"work".
There is a difference between delivery of a solution and acceptance by the
business.
"What I'm really worried about is that we'll do all this and nothing will really
have changed"
Chairman of the Board of Global Bank to prospective project auditors

6. Technology is not the main risk factor
Headlines on failed major business projects typically cite the dollars, the
struggling business, the technology platform and the solution vendor.
Yet the technology required for large scale complex business projects is
capable and robust. The technology issues are understood, and the problems
can be tackled at a high level. Very rarely does the technology fail
unexpectedly.
Technology can provide the capability, but is it worth the cost, compromise
and customisation?

7. Change Management is challenging and struggles to create
lasting positive impact
There are excellent books and rigorous theories put forward by highly
regarded gurus, and volumes of articles and thought pieces from consulting
companies who make it their business to promote and impose change on your
business.
But even with all this worthy intellectualising and expensive support ... only 1
in 4 change projects delivers the expected business benefits.
Why so rich in theory and so poor in practise?
Change cannot be outsourced, you need to experience and manage it yourself.

8. We believe there are three pre-conditions for success: vision,
understanding and commitment
In order to have a chance of success we need three things from the start:
• A compelling vision that demands action
• A genuine understanding of the scope and impact of the project
• A personal and team commitment to success

9. The vision needs to be compelling and believed by the
audience
Overcoming resistance and inertia to change requires a compelling reason to
do something different, a reason for change.
Critically, this vision must be communicated so that it is genuinely understood
by the people who will be instrumental in implementing the change, and the
people who will be impacted by the change.
Too often change programs start with a view held by the few, broadcast to all
and distrusted by many.
Communication requires that you not only explain the vision, but that the
vision is understood.
Vision -> Communication -> Understanding

10. Understanding the scope requires viewing the whole problem
at once
Large scale technology enabled business change projects are complicated.
They involve many factors all of which need to work before the project can
deliver a successful outcome.
11dot2 uses a 5-factor model: we consider the people, process, politics and
purpose of change as well as the system intended to support it.
people
process purpose politics
platform

11. Commitment needs to be personal before it is shared
Often there are a set of compelling business outcomes expected from the
change program, else why make the change?
Often there are a group of influential people with authority who have
reviewed and approved the expected business outcomes.
But too often the business outcomes have no business owners.
Success demands that each business outcome is owned by someone working
for the organisation who has influence and authority and who commits to the
result. Only when personal accountability is allocated and accepted can group
responsibility be agreed.

12. Without a holistic view of the project it will fail, one way or
another
The probability of success depend on four factors: Right Project, Right
Technology, Successful Delivery, and Sustained Change. The probability of
success is therefore:
Prob (that we’ve chosen the right project to invest in)
x
Prob (of right technology choice)
x
Prob (of successful project delivery)
x
Prob (of a successful change project)
It only takes a couple of factors to be less than 100% before the chances of
success are poor. Even if we are 70% certain on a few factors, our chances are
poor...
100% x 70% x 70% x 70% = 34% = RISK!

13. First understand, then assess, identify and support
HOW YOU CAN INCREASE THE
CHANCES OF SUCCESS

14. Discovering and defining the scope of change
The scope of change is determined
by the proportion of people High Large change Large change
affecting few affecting many
impacted and by how much they are
going to be impacted. Degree of impact
Minor change Minor change
Low affecting few affecting many
Low High
How many impacted
What we do: We work with the group defining the change program to
understand the scope of change and then check that the described scope of
change is allowed for in all plans.

15. Checking the alignment of all parties
Does everybody understand and expect the same thing from the project? Are
the Business Project objectives aligned with Project Sponsor aligned with
Project Delivery Team aligned with people who will be impacted by the
project?
For example, if we ask the project sponsor for their summary of the objective
for the project, will it match the understanding given by those who will be
impacted by the project?
What we do: We deliver purpose built, simple to execute, alignment surveys
to test the degree of alignment amongst all key stakeholders. The results of
the survey indicate where the gaps are, how big they are, and proposes
courses of action to consider.

16. Confirming the state of readiness
Readiness depends on being able to answer question such as:
• Is the change vision believable, compelling, and seen as achievable?
• Are the change team members and roles identified clear?
• Have the affected roles been identified? Are the new role definitions
understood and accepted?
• Have the criteria for success been defined for the new roles?
• How many processes will be affected? Have the new designs been tested,
are they accurate, complete and valid?
• What knowledge, skills and capabilities will need to be developed and/or
transferred?
What we do: We review the change plan against our check-list and identify
gaps if there are any. If a plan does not exist, we can help to create the plan
using our templates, modelling and definition approaches.

17. Supporting the change initiative - "Coaching for Change"
So we’ve worked to understand your objectives and the scope of change,
checked the current state of alignment and reviewed, confirmed and
committed the plans, what’s next? Now we can help you help your team
succeed.
What we do: Our "Coaching for Change" approach actively contributes to the
chances of success throughout the project:
• Review and contribute to the strategy and plan
• Map out the process, people and political challenges
• Measure and Monitor readiness and engagement
• Actively participate in process capture and design
• Independently review progress and recommend actions
• Identify and help fill the talent requirements

18. So what do we actually do?
We act as your guide and coach towards successful change.
people
process purpose politics
platform