It’s Cold! Let’s Heat Things Up with Some Change Management Discussion

Much of the USA has been extremely cold over the last few weeks.  I’ve lived in North Texas for 15 years and have never seen snow or ice remain on the ground longer than it has this time around.  I still have ice on my roof since the ice storm started 8 days ago.

The poor weather, business travel, newly assigned urgent projects, and the preparing for the holidays have minimized my desired level of focus on this blog. Right or wrong, I have observed over the years that most successful continuous improvement specialists do not let perfection get in the way of progress.  A bunch of base hits can be just as effective as a home run. So instead of waiting for the perfect time to focus on some of the topics I have plan for this blog, it seems best to get things moving.  Especially on a topic that we should surely revisit often:  Change Management.

My qualitative analysis, or more accurately my gut feel, is that the majority of Lean/Six Sigma/Lean Six Sigma training programs are extremely light on the topic of change management. My training class only discussed change management at a very high level.  We spent the majority of our class time on statistical analysis and other tools. While learning the tool set is extremely useful, if a black belt cannot effectively manage change then aren’t the other tools are useless?

Over the years I have improved my change management skills by self-study and practice.  The GE Change Acceleration Process has been a useful framework to follow, as well as the framework in the book Switch:  How to Change When Change is Hard.  I’ll be writing more about these later. What are your suggestions for improving the ability to manage change? 

Please comment!  Let’s Heat Things Up!