Real-Life Change Management Success Stories

In 2009, I worked on the transformation of a software company in Indiana. The company had immense potential, but they had a significant gap between aspiration and skill.  So, we created an open forum to discuss problems and engage people's commitment. Basically, we helped employees become authors of change. The result?  More fulfilled employees, satisfied customers, and much improved business performance.  We were able to transform the company from an enterprise app to a SaaS model and margins grew by 340%. The lesson?  Don't just write about isolated tactics.  Take a holistic approach to permanently reshape an organization's innovation DNA. I've seen this work in resistant cultures, from government orgs to Asian firms hesitant to let people go.  Everyone wants to wake up and win.  But too many end up sleepwalking through work, uninspired.  Gallup shows over 60% of employees are disengaged - an outright leadership shortcoming. The antidote is a frank discussion about the gap between current reality and future aspirations.  Collaboratively chart a path, especially to evolve mindsets and culture.  Every org can do this. You don't need to be an elite firm. The key is open dialogue and empowering people as agents of change. 

A few years ago I worked with an airline to improve the utilization of the commercial cargo with very nifty AI-based Revenue Management solutions. The technology could get the airline 10ppt extra utilization across its entire network (worth over $100M per year in bottom line) but they could not get to that value until they got airport palletizing procedures to be optimized and cargo sales reps to use the technology in their day to day workflow. Both critical non-tech changes. For real value, it’s #NeverJustTech - There is so much more to consider in order to maximize the performance of digital and AI solutions. Every time a new solutions gets introduced to optimize a process or a customer experience, there will likely be changes required upstream and downstream of that process as per my airline example. That’s why business leaders must own the reimagination of that business process with technology AND also own the change management. It’s also why such efforts are so often failing if they are tucked too low in the organization with managers who don’t own the end-to-end process or if they are being pushed by IT. #McKinseyDigital #RewiredBook

I am fortunate that the work I led at my previous organization has become a business school case study published by Ivey Business School. Our efforts on Blockchain in the pharmaceutical supply chain have reached new heights with the MediLedger project. I was pleasantly surprised when I received a call to return to the same classroom at Columbia University where I once sat. This time, I was invited as a guest speaker to teach the business case to future leaders. A heartfelt thank you to Ajay Nyamati for reaching out, and to professor Tejwansh Anand for the opportunity to share the journey with your class. Here are 5 key lessons from our conversation: Earn Trust: As a new executive with a mandate to change the order of things, you must earn the trust of stakeholders and prove that you will be a sound custodian of investments. Patience with Change: The speed of implementing new technology in an organization far exceeds the adoption of change. Be patient with human and organizational change. Define Your Intentions: Trust is vital in change journeys. It’s less about the technology or change itself and more about your intentions within the organization. Timing Matters: When implementing emerging technology, timing is crucial. If you’re too early, you won’t see the impact; if you’re too late, you’ll be irrelevant. Create your North Star: Your final destination may differ from your original plan. Don’t spend too much time defining it with precision. As General Bradley once said, “Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.” Thank you, Ivey Business School at Western University, for codifying our work, and Columbia University, for incorporating it into the curriculum.