I enjoyed a customer interaction around changing the way projects are managed and delivered.
Six months after approving the adoption of PRINCE2 in one department, the CEO demanded to know from his leadership group why it wasn't fully implemented and working across the company.
That is a common approach from a manager who expects that if something was approved six months ago, it should be working already. Nike's 'Just do it' meets Captain Picard's 'Make it so'.
It takes time.
Changing to a new paradigm is always a challenge where not all the players understand the reason for the change, or if they are uncommitted. It's easier to stay with the status quo. So the transition to something new or better needs time to embed and customize. It needs to become the new way, then the agreed way, then the standard process.
I advised the CEO it would take 2-3 years to embed the change, but he told me he didn't have that much time.
In fact, he does, and the leadership group is committed to go with the change; to baseline current performance and re-baseline every year. We will measure progress and improvement, but it will take time.
In two years time, they will all look back and it will not have taken long at all. We just need perspective ... and a plan.
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