Change Management, circa 1500
Posted By Rob Millard - 0 Comments -
There's nothing new under the sun, so the saying goes. That's as true in change management as anything else. Of course IT has given us new tools to communicate and collaborate in driving change, but the underlying principles are constant. To illustrate, here's a quote from Niccola Machiavelli from his book on statemanship called The Prince, first published in 1512:
"There is no more delicate matter to take in hand, nor more dangerous to conduct, nor more doubtful in its success, than to set up as a leader in the introduction of change. For he who innovates will have for his enemies all who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new."
This is clearly as true to the modern day strategist or change agent as it was 500 years ago. Here's another Machiavellian quote, perhaps more aimed at the strategist him/her self:
"The wise man should always follow the roads that have been trodden by the great and imitate those who have excelled, so that if he cannot reach their perfection, he may at least acquire something of its savour.
Acting in this like the skillful archer, who seeing that the object he would hit is distant, and knowing the range of his bow, takes aim much above the destined mark; not designing that his arrow should strike so high, but that flying high it may alight at the point intended."
While Machiavelli was writing here of the goals that one might set for oneself, it applies equally to the goals one might set, together with one's colleagues, for one's firm. The best modern corollary for this that I can think of, in the professional service firm context, is the BHAG ("bee-hag" or "Big Hairy Audacious Goal") that Jim Collins talks about in his books Built to Last and Good to Great (the former co-authored with Jerry Porras). A BHAG is a deliberately ambitious goal set at the limit of what the firm could achieve if everybody worked together to this end.
An essential part of the BHAG is that it is not just an amorphous, rough idea of what one would like to achieve. Like Machiavelli's archery target, it needs to be well defined and detailed so that people understand it and so know specifically where to aim. The BHAG, I think, has come in for a lot of bad press because people do not spend enough time on thinking it through. As a result, it is not tangible enough to excite people and so, as Machiavelli points out in the first quote, those that will be better off under the new scheme of things remain 'lukewarm' while those that will not, actively oppose it.
Action plans, which by necessity focus on the short to medium term, must be achievable and sensible. When visioning the medium to long term future of your firm, however, not only is it permissable to be ambitious; it is essential. Otherwise, extraordinary results won't be achieved.
Comments, as always, are most welcome and may be posted below.
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