If you ask any CEO, there are aspects of their culture they are happy about, and some they'd like to change. There's probably not a firm in operation anywhere that doesn't have the need to change some aspect of the way they work, and in many of those organizations the problems today are the same ones that existed several years ago. In most circumstances, we already know what we need to fix, we just aren't prepared to commit the time and resources to fixing the problems. So, firms develop work arounds and other methods to address what are known problems.
That's because a significant change to a corporate culture or business process takes a long time, and costs a lot of emotional distraction and real dollars as well. My general rule of thumb for any significant change is that it takes one year to deploy the change, one year to accept the change and one year to fully embrace the change. So, if your team is starting a project to dramatically change something within the corporate culture, step back, breathe deeply and constantly remind yourself and your management team that the full results won't be available for several years. This three phased change rule applies for larger changes that can take years, as well as more short term changes that may take only weeks or months.
In the first year, your team is simply trying to figure out what to change and what impact the change may have, and identify the new processes and responsibilities associated with the change. Of course, many people not involved in the change are watching the efforts and trying to decide whether to be helpful or just watch. Few people will be actively supportive since you are changing a attribute of the culture or a process which many of them have strong relationships with. Of course, they are also waiting to see if they can simply wait you out - find out if your commitment to the change is large enough to stick with all the work.
In the second year, the organization is adopting the change, still thinking about the "old way" of doing things and comparing/contrasting with the new approach. They are seeking loopholes and ways around the new concept or process, and doing the bare minimum to accomplish your expectations of the new way of doing things. There's a lot of training and compensation change necessary to support these efforts.
Finally, in the third year, people start to get on board. If you've lasted this long, it's probably clear that there's no going back to the "old way" of doing things. As they get on board, their commitment increases and their efficiency and effectiveness skyrockets, which finally provides the benefits you were hoping for oh so long ago.
Why do things take so long?
- Fear of uncertainty and change
- Inertia
- No desire to learn something new - requires investment on my part
- No/little change in compensation or evaluation
- Some people simply don't want a new thing to succeed
- May minimize another business function, process or strategic turf of someone else
- Recognition of the timeframe required and the expectation that management will lose focus
Another challenge to these significant corporate change issues is that few people remain in the same job for more than two or three years. In firms where this is the case, it is exceptionally difficult to get anyone to commit to large scale change, since they will bear the pain of the change but will be in a new position before the benefits are revealed. That means their successor in the role gets all the benefits.
In a time when every business is measured on quarterly and even monthly results, dramatic change that takes quarters or years seems almost impossible. Yet any significant business process change or cultural change will require that time span to be adequately implemented and embraced.
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