I’m not sure if you’ve noticed yet, but the supply chain is kind of a mess. It’s understandable; there are a lot of things that can cause change, and not all of them are predictable.
But what if it was? And what if we started over today, using all of our technology and knowledge of what works and what doesn’t? Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Well, let’s figure it out together.
What Aspects of Traditional Change Management Suck?
Traditional change management models typically take too long to enact, turn into navel-gazing exercises, and give upper management a warm and fuzzy feeling like they did something good. They can retire for the evening with their martini and feel good about their day. Ick.
Look, even the shortest change management models have hidden steps. Take Lewin’s Change Model, for example. There are just three steps:
- Unfreeze
- Change
- Refreeze
Sounds simple, right? Get an upper management team involved and watch how each step expands like one of those growing sponge dinosaur toys we had as kids. Unfreeze becomes 15 different ways to get things done.
These are just some of the ways that these kinds of models suck. It’s horrible. We need a better option.
What If We Started From Zero?
For me, the first thing we have to tackle is the inefficiencies inherent in our existing change management models. To do that, we need to work from the ground up.
Let’s look at some of the lower-level roles in our organization. Are their positions well defined? I know there are some companies where a person was hired to do one thing, but now they do anything but—yet they have the same title. Let’s right-size that person and their role, as well as anyone else who doesn’t fit in the right spot.
How about management itself? You and I both know there’s some cruft to be cut there. You’ve probably got some managers who are also individual contributors, which is not a great way for managers to manage. Let’s ditch those inefficiencies and empower our people in power to do the right thing whenever necessary.
Now, look at the processes involved. Are your employees having disconnected conversations? Where one party talks to another, but a third comes in peripherally and gets involved? These kinds of conversations can cost you, so get going on some good ol’ fashioned workplace reform.
The processes also probably need some reworking, so look for all the choke points. Too many meetings? Are there clear stakeholders? Is there a single decision maker? Sort out everything and make sure it flows as seamlessly as possible. Then you’ll feel better about the whole process.
What are the Potential Benefits of a Ground-Up Redesign?
If you decide to do a ground-up redesign at your company, you’ll do some inefficiency elimination, create a new organizational strategy, and save your business a whole ton of money. The benefits are pretty clear once you see the possibilities.
Think about how the business was started X years ago. Now, picture yourself in a scenario where you have all of that knowledge from those X years, and you’re starting fresh. What do you change? How do you solve problems before they happen? That is what you gain from a ground-up redesign, and it has the potential to be huge.
You Can Change
Anyone who’s been around the block a time or two knows that change is not only possible but also constant. But in this case, I’m not talking about change for change’s sake. This is taking a real, honest look at what’s good and bad about your business and fixing it through some pretty radical change management.
I’ve been doing this for a long time now, and AI is one of the next Silent Shift™ coming down the pike. Are you ready for the AI Ecosystems Revolution™? Find out by taking my free assessment. After 15 minutes give or take, you’ll know more about your company and what you need to do next to get ready for our AI-powered future.
And don’t forget—check out my new book, The AI Ecosystems Revolution, available for preorder on Amazon. It’s set to be released on April 29, 2025.
