Thursday, April 18, 2013

Supply Lines and Change Management

The world is moving faster than ever. Sometimes I struggle to keep up with it all. Whether I'm chasing the unattainable goal of an empty Inbox, managing multiple organization-wide changes, or trying to maintain a reasonable meetings load each day, I continue to wonder how I'm ever going to keep it all under control. 

Fast Is Good
Don't misinterpret my opening comments. I like changing things up to improve, and I certainly love courageous leaders who aren't afraid to push organizations forward. So many companies are mired in analysis-paralysis that I wonder if any decisions are made. I've worked in some of those places, and it can be downright frustrating to feel trapped in that corporate culture.

"Breakthroughs happen when leaders are brave enough to push their organizations forward."

Too Fast Is Dangerous
The world of work is filled with military references: the war for talent, negotiations being framed as a battle, and so on. One important lesson from the military that I believe is noticeably absent from the discourse at work has to do with supply lines.

In times of rapid changes (read here --> advancement in war) the front lines are never extended beyond the reach of the supply lines. If that connection is lost, important resources, supplies and expertise are compromised and the effort is put at extreme risk for failure.

The same concept holds true in the workplace. If changes are happening so quickly that leaders and staff are not able to maintain an appropriate supply of information, tools, and resources, the change effort is also at risk to fail.

How About You
What approaches do you use to ensure the change efforts in your organization don't outstretch your corporate supply lines? Are you able to keep your leadership team properly refueled and supported; or, have you simply focused on the speed of change and inadvertently put the effort at unnecessary risk?

I'd love to hear from you.


No Excuses.



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3 comments:

  1. Hi, I love your extraordinary blog. I'd like to share a little bit. People involved in change will need to recognize that change is risky; change can be scary; change can often entail the real desire and need to slip back into the comfort zone. Effective change requires constant vigilance to resist slipping back into the old, comfortable ways of doing business. thanks a lot!~•Sarah James

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  2. Superb! I appreciate it. You should aware by knowing who and what is in an enterprise's supply chain is critical to gain visibility into what is happening within it, as well as monitoring and identifying high-risk events and activities. Without reasonable visibility and traceability into the supply chain, it is impossible to understand and therefore manage risk and to reduce the likelihood of an adverse event. thanks!@Madeline S.

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  3. There is only one solution to all the management related problems, which is management software. The use of management software facilitates people to do their work with ease.

    ReplyDelete