Transformation Article - Why Transformation Programmes are best avoided
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Likewise, we encounter programmes where multiple different sub-projects are under way in parallel, with no clear prioritisation among them, and no structures in place to manage the interdependencies and contentions between them; where responsibility has been handed over exclusively to the IT department to deliver with no business ownership, and no thought to the consequences of the initiative for the wider enterprise in terms of the broader business, process and organizational changes likely to arise; where the line business teams define a new set of processes and then hand these ‘over the wall’ to the IT function to engineer into the systems, without any consideration whatsoever of the technical complexities that these might entail; where proposed implementation dates have no underlying analytical planning basis, but simply reflect the view of the relevant senior executive of how long ‘something like this should take’; and perhaps most significantly of all, where the leadership of the programme is made up of individuals who – despite having considerable knowledge and deep experience of the business in question, often in quite senior positions – have little or no expertise in, or prior exposure to, major transformational initiatives, and therefore little appreciation of what is involved or required to make the programme a success.
These situations all invariably ended up with the same end result – a programme or project disaster, and if not outright cancellation of the initiative, then a major restructuring of it, involving the appointment of a new team, often with considerable external assistance, followed by a long and painful period of recovery. No doubt many reading this will be familiar with this scenario, because it is all too common. But equally, it is also avoidable.
This said, we do not believe, based on our experience of these types of programmes and projects, that there is a universal panacea here, a cook book that if followed to the letter will inevitably result in a successful outcome. What we do believe though is that there are a number of key ingredients that if included in the ‘recipe’ can significantly increase the chances of success, and a number of common pitfalls that if avoided can likewise dramatically reduce the risk of failure.
The starting point for all this is experience and expertise. Without these, any organization embarking on such an initiative will inevitably struggle. However capable the individuals, and however knowledgeable they may be about the organization undertaking the programme, or the industry in which it operates, unless they are deeply versed in the complexities and challenges of transformation activity, it is almost guaranteed that there will be significant gaps in the set-up and conduct of the programme, and there will be numerous issues and problems arising to which they will be insufficiently equipped to respond effectively. In many respects it is surprising that organizations may be prepared to entrust such important and complex undertakings to individuals who lack the essential expertise – again it plays to the somewhat naive way in which such undertakings are often approached. Fundamentally, however, this really is not an arena for the amateur, no matter how gifted.