The Death of Change ManagementFrom Managing Change to Manager-Led Diffusion
The autopsy of an industry, and the operating model that replaces it.
Change management measured activity: attendance, training scores, how people felt. It never measured whether anyone actually did the work the new way. This book makes the full argument, lays out the science it is built on, and sets out Manager-Led Diffusion: the operating model that puts adoption back where it has always worked, with the managers who stand where the work is done, counted honestly from the front line to the CEO.
On sale October 23Every deliverable done. The change declared a success. Adoption: 40 percent.
In one program described in the book, a financial services company spent nearly $4 million on change management in a single year. Every planned deliverable was completed, and the executive sponsor declared the change a success. Then the system's own transaction logs were checked: more than half of customer interactions were still being processed by hand in the old system.
Nothing in the program's reports could have shown it. They measured activity: workshops held, emails sent, people trained. By the time the real number appeared, the money was spent. A Pre-Mortem asks the question before the budget is committed: will the organization actually do the work the new way, and where will it stall first?
Know where adoption will stall before you spend the money.
A post-mortem tells you why a transformation failed. The Pre-Mortem© tells you how likely it is to fail, and in which departments, branches or plants, before the budget is committed. Everyone in the organization, from the CEO to the front line, answers 48 questions online in less than eight minutes. Scoring is automatic and rolls up from each team to its manager, division, executive team and board.
The forecast arrives before the budget is committed, while there is still time to change the plan.
How much of the organization will be working the new way at 90 days, six months and a year.
How much of the money you are about to commit is at risk of being wasted.
How many divisions are on track, at risk or heading for failure, and in a full analysis, exactly which departments, branches and plants.
The difference between what executives expect and what the front line expects, one of the most useful findings the Pre-Mortem produces.
Under eight minutes per person and results within 3 to 10 working days. Every result is held under a company code, never the company's name, and individual answers are never released.
How it works is set out in the book. Registration for organizations will open on this page soon.
The Saisei Project opens soon.
Saisei (再生) is the Japanese word for rebirth. The Saisei Project is where the book becomes practice: the PMI Digital Pre-Mortem©, the Adoption Ledger© and the Adoption Registry, for organizations ready to measure adoption instead of sentiment.
Until the site opens, questions are welcome: write to the Saisei Project.