Guacamole is the New Secret Ingredient for Organizational Change Management

The concept of Organizational Change Management (OCM) does not resonate well in some organizations. Often times when I throw the “OCM” acronym around, the executive suite starts speed dialing security to get me out of their conference room. OCM sometimes gets a bad rap, much like avocados. Sure, avocados are high in fat, green, and mushy; however, they are monounsaturated fats and taste spectacular on tortilla chips or toast. I contend that OCM is the avocado of the ERP industry.

Why?

Well, at first blush when we hear “OCM” we visualize a bunch of team members sitting around a conference table, holding hands, singing songs and eating sugar cookies… “I am OK, you are OK, everything is going to be OK”. But that is not the true nature of Change Management. Like the maligned avocado, Change Management is not touchy-feely and mushy, but a source of key ingredients like trust, relationship building, and predictive analysis.

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Change Management is all about creating trust with a project team, telling them the hard truths at the precise time that they need to hear it. True Change Management is in the cubicle next to the project team members, developing a rapport with the team and the organization, and discovering what are the magic beans that differentiate them from the competition. Change Management is helping the project team articulate a theory of victory, delineate “What’s In It For Me (WIIFM),” and align personal goals with corporate goals. Change Management creates a fertile base for training, testing and wringing out new processes and behaviors.

I would like to suggest we rebrand OCM as “Resource Optimization,” as that is closer to the result of what OCM delivers when managed correctly. Resource Optimization is that coach or teacher you weren’t sure of to start, but then learned to respect and then love in school. Not only does Resource Optimization have the hard talks with your team, but it takes them to a place the team never believed they could get to on their own, all while telling you to “take another lap, slacker!”

Here at LTA, we recommend a healthy dose of Change Management/Resource Optimization on your project tortilla chips. While I want to remind you that it is important to speak with your physician about the right diet for you, it is equally important to speak with an independent advisor like LTA about the best technology or software strategy for your organization.