10. LEARN TO LEAD CHANGE BECAUSE (1) YOU CAN, and (2) IT DIRECTLY IMPACTS RESULTS

The rate of change is exponentially increasing and professionals are looking for real world practical help to survive and thrive as their organizations create and respond to changes. Leading change, understanding how individuals and organizations transition through
change is a key leadership competency and directly related to business results.

Companies that under-invest in change management are missing out on the impressive results from excellent execution. A 2002 McKinsey Quarterly article reported that projects with stellar change management delivered 143% of the return on investment (ROI), while projects with weak change management only delivered 35% of the ROI. Learning to lead change and knowing how to get things done is, no question, a valuable skill.

Learn to lead change because you can - we need more people that know how to get things done in organizations, communities, and governments. 

9. CLEAR, INFLUENTIAL SPONSORSHIP IS A MUST BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Executive sponsors are the people with enough position authority to put some weight behind the decision to change. If the executive sponsors do NOT support the change or are on the fence about the change, you have more work to do. Be mindful of their emotions, beliefs, and behaviors and ask yourself if they really understand the need for change and understand their role in the change. If not, consider these actions.

Dig deeper: Ask questions, inquire as to why the sponsors do not support the change and address those concerns.

Take the time to teach your sponsor: Be explicit bout the sponsors' role, including behaviors and actions, to support the change. Check out Seth Godin's post on taking the time to teach. I found it inspiring - it's why I do what I do.

Execute a pilot program to show results first -
actions will always speak louder than words. Go back to your change
sponsors with those results and restate your case for broader change.

No question, effective sponsorship is a major success factor to any change initiative.

8. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET SUPPORT FROM EVERYONE

That's okay - keep going. You need to get the right people on board. Start with the early adopters, and hand pick key people,influential people that you will work closely with to show results. It's not worth your time or energy to try to convince people that just want to argue or banter to try to get a response. Keep moving forward.Trying to get 'buy-in' (a.k.a. sell job) from everyone - is a mistake. Be honest, be transparent, in your decisions and actions. Be real! Let people know the challenges - don't be a pollyanna! Be in reality, be practical about the risks, acknowledge what you don't know. You will be
amazed at the people that step forward and support you and the change you are implementing. People will respect and follow your character, often more than the change itself.

7. CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING

Susan Cramm's Harvard Business Review blog post, "How Are You Defying Best Practice?" is an excellent summary of my seventh practical change management reality. Susan notes that "best practice", in reality ...isn't always the "best" (meaning context is everything - common sense required!)
...often isn't feasible, and doesn't makes sense, in terms of scale, money, energy, and time
...is sometimes unachievable (meaning hammering a square peg into a round hole and losing the value in the process)

She encourages people to:

Adapt best practices and use common sense, use judgment.

Focus on defining quality processes that keep the end in mind, the end being quality products and services.

Put energy into coaching people to think critically, strategically, and creatively.

Context is everything when managing change. Down with blanket best practices - use your judgment, use your gut, pay attention to your intuition.

6. YOU WILL NEED TO COMMUNICATE MORE THAN YOU THINK

Communication studies have shown that 'senders' need to communicate messages 5 to 7 times before 'receivers' begin to internalize the message. Recall the telephone game you played as a child where you sat in a circle and the first person whispered a message in the ear of the person sitting next to them. The message was then passed on to the next person, and so on. By the time the message reached the end of the circle and reported back to the group, the message was often light years from the original message.
You will need to communicate more than you think.

How are your messages being distorted?
What are you doing to ensure your message represents your intent?

5. Choose TWO models and TAILOR

Choose (1) a change management model, and (2) a project management model. They will help you get organized (rather than produce scattered, random actions). Don't apply blanket process to a change - process is a means to an end and the goal is NOT a perfect change management or project management plan, the goal is results. The one-size-fits-all approach companies often take rarely yields the expected results. To succeed, change management efforts must be targeted and tailored.

4. SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO THE 'RIGHT' RESISTORS

Take note, not all resistors are the 'right' resistors. Some people just want to argue. Listen to the right resistors - those that have a lot of influence in the organization. You will only understand the origin of resistance if you stop talking and listen deeply to understand what has brought the resistance, anger, pain, suspicion, or frustration about the change. Stop formulating your counter point and listen, listen deeply. People will tell you what you need to hear. Reaching out to a colleague who doesn't agree with you is never easy, and it is still necessary to try. You need all the friends you can get when working in a large organization. Don't let differences over issues damage personal relationships. You cannot be friends with everyone but you can agree to disagree. And if you remain amicable you can work together on issues.

3. DON'T GO IT ALONE - YOU WILL 10X YOUR INFLUENCE BY TEAMING UP

Influential change leaders (1) understand there is power (and comfort) in partnership, and (2) recognize that adoption of change will be accelerated if they leverage formal and informal social support - don't go it alone! Invest time and energy in two groups that will advance the change efforts.

1. Formal support (managers at all levels of the organization)
2. Informal support (people that others look up to and watch, thought leaders)

2. CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT ARE BOTH REQUIRED

Managing change is an inherent, undeniable component of every project. A good analogy is a triathlon - a multi-sport endurance event consisting of swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances. NOT doing change management is akin to a tri-athlete choosing not to swim. Swimming is a major component of any triathlon, as is change management a major component of any project. To be effective, you do both. I'm currently working on a book for project managers and change managers. The focus is on how to integrate change management and project management. I was teaching a change management course just this week and a project manager asked, "I have a schedule to adhere to - where do I do change management? Should change management be part of my project plan?" The answer is yes and my book will show you how to effectively integrate both disciplines.

1. STRUCTURE CHANGE INITIATIVES WITH THE EXPECTATION OF SUCCESS

The only real reason to implement change is because when it works, it's powerful! The organization starts to see how their decision to change turns into results - risk taking and trust are fostered. It's easy to get hung up on all the bad things that could happen when implementing change. People will doubt you. You will doubt yourself. Keep your focus on how the world will look when you get it right. Pay attention to risk management and sometimes you just have to go.