In the last post, I talked about one of two major mistakes that condemn changes to the trash heap of failed projects: failing to say NO to a proposed change that won’t add value. The second mistake is both big and common: failing to allocate enough resources for success. https://bit.ly/2ZRxeaM

1. If You Want Water to Boil, Turn
up the Heat!
Pat McLagan

2. If You Want Water to Boil, Turn up
the Heat!
• In the last post, I talked about one of two major mistakes that
condemn changes to the trash heap of failed projects: failing to say
NO to a proposed change that won’t add value. The second mistake
is both big and common: failing to allocate enough resources for
success. Think about this: a group decides to pursue a new strategy
or launch a big change. The change is complex and will change roles
and relationships and require a period of learning, experimenting,
even trial and error. But the resources allocated to the change
process are minimal or (and this is very common) people are told, “Do
this AND your job, too… and stay within the current budgets.”

3. If You Want Water to Boil, Turn
up the Heat!
• There are many big changes afoot around
organizations today. The biggest require
significant shifts in culture, mindsets,
accountability, and power relationships. Think of
what is happening as global supply chains put
pressure on functional silos and command/control
hierarchies. Think of what is happening to
organizations and their people as they adjust to
the VUCA (velocity, uncertainty, complexity,
ambiguity) environment that smart technology
is underwriting.

4. If You Want Water to Boil, Turn
up the Heat!
• I’ve been involved in many change projects during the
last decades. I put them into three broad categories –
each requiring resources and attention beyond the day-to-
day running of the business. Some of the changes (I’ll
call them T1, transactional changes) are relatively
simple to complete and leave roles intact. But they may
require training and additional communication about the
rationale for the change. Training and communication
may be enough to help people get over the change hump
of adopting a new word processing program, for example.
But, even though T1 is a simple change, it still requires
time, attention, and additional resources.

5. If You Want Water to Boil, Turn
up the Heat!
• T2 (transitional) changes are a bit more complicated and
require a greater change management investment. T2
changes rattle the status quo and change relationships.
They are changes that are complex but have been
implemented elsewhere. There is usually a relatively
clear vision of the end game and because something
similar exists, uncertainty — while present — is reduced.
Examples of a T2 change include the implementation of a
new enterprise management system, the opening of an
subsidiary in a new country, or an organization
restructuring that results in downsizing.

6. If You Want Water to Boil, Turn
up the Heat!
• These require changes of many kinds.
These in turn can’t occur unless the
management puts skin in the game,
spending personal time supporting the
changes and funding a good-sized
implementation program and a change
management budget beyond business as
usual.

7. If You Want Water to Boil, Turn
up the Heat!
• T3 (transformational) changes, the most difficult and
complex, replace the status quo and require significant
innovation in uncertainty. These are changes like those in
big South African businesses as apartheid ended, or in
manufacturing, banking, telecom, and some branches of
government during major context shifts, or in global
businesses today that are cobbling together complex
networks of suppliers and customers and looking for ways
to keep them both aligned and responsive. T3 changes
involve experimentation and require significant
investments: time, money, people working as change
teams.

8. If You Want Water to Boil, Turn
up the Heat!
• T3 changes are the equivalent of a state change
in physics – a change from solid to liquid, or
liquid to gas. Think about what you do when you
want to boil water – to change it from liquid to
gas. You turn the heat up to 9 or 10 on the stove
– a significant investment of energy. If you only
turn it to 1 or 2, all you get is tepid water and
slow evaporation that doesn’t power anything.
The energy investment has to match the problem
you are trying to solve.

9. If You Want Water to Boil, Turn
up the Heat!
• As you are thinking about your change
investments, be sure to realize that it
takes significantly more resources to
achieve T2 than T1, and yet more for T3.
If you are not willing to put the time,
energy, and resources into a change project
or goal that it requires, it is probably
better not to start.

10. If You Want Water to Boil, Turn
up the Heat!
• NUGGET: Make sure your investment in
change is robust enough to achieve your
change goal.
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11. THANK YOU!