My keynote at PMI India Regional Conference at Trivandrum, Apr 27

1. Why
transformations
fail and how
project
management
could help?
Tathagat Varma
Country Manager, NerdWallet
RIP
Transformation 4.6
Born:Too Late
Died:Too Early
Ignored when alive &
Missing when dead!

2. My personal views!

3. Reality is often broken :(

4. Hardly a new fad!

5. Reinvented through ages…!
• Total Quality Management
• Business Process Reengineering
• Process Redesign
• Right Sizing
• Restructuring
• Turnaround
• Agile Transformation
• Digital Transformation
• < insert your favorite new shiny thingy here >

6. So, what is Transformation?
• A marked change in
form, nature or
appearance
• A complete change in
the appearance or
character of something
or someone, especially
so that that thing or
person is improved

7. In a business context…
In management, business transformation involves making
fundamental changes in how business is conducted in order to
help cope with shifts in market environment.
Business Transformation is the process of fundamentally changing
the systems, processes, people and technology across a whole
business or business unit, to achieve measurable improvements in
efficiency, effectiveness and stakeholder satisfaction.
As such, a business transformation project is likely to include any
number of change management projects, each focused on an
individual process, system, technology, team or department.
- Wikipedia

8. Lewin’s Change Model
Unfreeze Change Refreeze

9. Lewin Force Field Analysis
https://daniellock.com/force-field-analysis/

10. Some work, some don’t!
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs136/1105402515913/archive/1109093751779.html

11. Sadly, most still fail!
70-85%

12. Only getting worse…?

13. With familiar challenges…

14. Why Transformations Fail -
Kotter, HBR, 1995
• Not Establishing a Great Enough Sense of Urgency
• Not Creating a Powerful Enough Guiding Coalition
• Lacking a Vision
• Undercommunicating the Vision by a Factor of Ten
• Not Removing Obstacles to the New Vision
• Not Systematically Planning For and Creating Short-
Term Wins
• Declaring Victory Too Soon
• Not Anchoring Changes in the Corporation’s Culture
https://hbr.org/1995/05/leading-change-why-transformation-efforts-fail-2

15. So, how could project
management help?

16. Critical Success Factors
1. Compelling Vision
2. Establishing the Urgency
3. Ownership by Top Leadership
4. People Engagement
5. Communicating to Frontline Employees
6. Critical Roles
7. Integrated Approach
8. Measure Progress Objectively
9. Create Lasting Change
10.People, People, People

17. #1: Compelling Vision

18. #2: Right Urgency
http://www.ontheagilepath.net/2017/03/cost-of-delay-a-key-metric.html

19. #3: Top Leadership
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-people-power-of-transformations
Overall, respondents agree that their companies’ CEO
are deeply involved in transformational change

20. #4: People Engagement
In successful transformations, employees in every role
tend to be more engaged, especially at lower levels of
the organization
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-people-power-of-transformations

21. Low involvement kills!
Across roles, line managers and frontline employees are
the least likely to report transformation success
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-people-power-of-transformations

22. #5: Communicating to the
Frontline
Frontline employees differ from others in their views on
the best ways to engage them in transformations
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-people-power-of-transformations

23. What’s in it for me?

24. Companies do much more!
Companies with the most successful transformations do
more than others to communicate with and engage the
front line
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-people-power-of-transformations

25. #6: Critical Roles
• CEO
• Senior Leaders
• Human Resource leaders
• Leaders of PMO or transformation offices
• Initiative Leaders
• Line Managers
• Change Agents
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-people-power-of-transformations

26. Do your role!
Success is likelier when employees play their own
unique roles!
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-people-power-of-transformations

27. People in new roles
Successful transformations are likelier to move people
around - in moderation - and bring in new talent
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-people-power-of-transformations

28. #7: Integrated approach
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/leading-organizational-transformations

29. Alignment with Business
Results

30. #8: Measure progress
objectively

31. #9: Create Lasting Change
http://www.mbatools.co.uk/Change%20Management/changemodels.htm

32. Burn the boats!

33. #10: It’s still all about people!

34. People + Business =>
Successful Change

35. Recap

36. References
• https://hbr.org/2018/03/why-so-many-high-profile-digital-transformations-fail
• https://www.brothers-brick.com/2016/01/21/lego-digital-designer-officially-defunded-and-
unsupported-news/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucerogers/2016/01/07/why-84-of-companies-fail-at-digital-
transformation/#5a8ca947397b
• https://hbr.org/1995/05/leading-change-why-transformation-efforts-fail-2
• https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/227627
• https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/leading-organizational-
transformations
• https://execed.hec.edu/en/news-resources/news/change-management-what-are-the-key-success-
factors
• https://www.prosci.com/adkar/adkar-model
• https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/why-
transformations-fail-a-conversation-with-seth-goldstrom