At some point the penny drops
When going through any change programme that requires an element of standardisation (think, 5 different ways of doing things currently, but we want just 1) typically people think that their way is the right way and that everyone else will 'standardise' to their way
My favourite example of this was during a shared services programme for a law firm - creating a single way of working for all offices globally
We'd just completed an extensive requirements gathering exercise, documenting how different offices performed particular processes
We were playing back the findings to the Director group and we could sense a collective defensiveness
One of the Directors (from one of the smaller offices) was complimentary about the work and then said:
"I'm supportive of standardising processes, on the basis you all do the same as me"
...
In that moment, or more accurately in the awkward pause shortly after that moment, the penny dropped for everyone in the room
To move forward, everyone had to be open to changing their individual ways of working, for the benefit of the wider programme
And to their credit, they were - we were able to move forward with the programme at pace because we had that broad understanding that change would be required of all
I've seen this issue time and time again. The quicker the penny drops, the quicker the project can progress and the better the outcome.
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