Throughout this island, and the rest of the world for this matter, individuals and their organisations are always involved in some change process or another. For some, the change process is benign ? the focus is on no more than improving one?s ability to relate with customers, introduce a better team spirit or learn how to communicate better. For others however, it is far more traumatic and involves grappling with serious issues such as replacing one Prime Minister with another, coping with financial fraud, changing the mentality of public servants, re-strategizing a whole industry, reengineering another or embarking on a cost cutting, quality improvement programme which could involve laying off dozens of employees. For some too, these change efforts will pay ? they will succeed in adapting to changing conditions, will match head-on their competition and will position themselves for a better future. For others however, their change programmes will fail ? they will experience significant pain and anguish and will end up feeling more fearful than ever of change and its implications.

Why then, do some change programmes succeed and others fail? Whether you are the highest ranking public official on this island, or the CEO of one of our Top 100 companies, or ordinary Jo Soap ? what are the mistakes you should avoid at all costs if you are trying to change your organisation? For a long time I have searched for answers to this fundamental question. Like many, I have hypothesized that change fails because most change programmes are ill-conceived, badly planned, not followed through ? and so on. Right? Not so simple, argues John P. Kotter in his best-selling book, Leading Change. If you haven?t read it, the book is essential reading to anyone involved in a change process. Clearly and succinctly, the author describes for us the eight mistakes we make when we drive change. Here?s a summary:

• We allow too much complacency. By far the biggest mistake we make when we try to change something, states Kotter, is that we plunge ahead without establishing a high enough sense of urgency in others around us. We do that because we overestimate how much we can drive big changes through and because we underestimate how hard it is to drive people out of their comfort zones. Without urgency, people around us won?t give the extra effort needed and change will fail.

• We fail to form a guiding coalition. Kotter argues that if we want change to happen we need to ensure that the team driving the change process is made up of powerful people ? men and women with impressive titles, information and expertise, reputations and relationships, and the capacity for leadership. Without their support and involvement, change splutters and stops altogether.

• We underestimate the power of vision. Nothing is more important in a change process than a powerful and sensible vision. Without this vision, change can rapidly dissolve into a list of confusing, incompatible, and time-consuming projects that go nowhere at all.

• We under-communicate the vision. If we fail to communicate the vision, we?ve had it ? people will not commit to the change unless the potential benefits are clearly spelt out to them. This means communication and more communication ? both in words and in deeds.

• Allowing obstacles to block the vision. New initiatives fail, warns Kotter, when employees, even though committed to the new vision, feel disempowered by the huge obstacles in their paths. Sometimes the obstacles are very real such as vested self-interests, a hesitant superior or badly designed organisational structures ? but at other times they are nothing else but the figment of our imagination.

• Failing to create short-term wins. Real transformation takes time, cautions Kotter, and complex efforts such as changing strategies or restructuring the business run the risk of losing momentum if there are no short-term goals to meet and celebrate. Creating short-term wins and celebrating them regularly is therefore essential.

• Declaring victory too soon. After a few years, days or hours of hard work at changing, we are all tempted to declare victory ? we have made it! This could be a terrible mistake, argues the author. For change to sink deeply into a culture, we must give it time and be weary of premature celebrations.

• Neglecting to anchor changes into the corporate culture. At the end of the day, change stick only when it becomes ?the way we do things here,? claims Kotter. This happens when the specific attitudes and behaviours that we had hoped for are being displayed by key people in the company.

Kotter?s warning about the errors we make when approaching change are well-timed as we enter a turbulent period of our history. Our leaders, both in public and corporate life, should do well to heed them.

Prof Eric Charoux

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