The problem with big change and new floors

Colleagues,
 
Last week I shared that we were getting new wood floors and how that related to BIG change. Unfortunately, our endeavor mirrored BIG change a bit too much. Here’s the process we have been through:

1. Assessed the need for new floors
2. Planned by choosing style and defining parameters (which rooms)
3. Committed
4. Prepared by tearing out the baseboard, moving out all the furniture and dismantling our kitchen
5. This was supposed to be the implementation phase, but something happened – the floor never got delivered from the factory!

 
So, now we are sitting in a big mess and it will be this way for another 10-14 days.
 
We shouldn’t be surprised as BIG change usually goes this way. If we think about a change cycle as having four parts, here are the ways BIG change can go off the rails:

1. Identification
   1. We focus on symptoms instead of problems or 
   2. We address the wrong problem
2. Planning
   1. This is the phase we are usually best at, but sometimes we fail to account for factors such as…
3. Implementation
   1. Unforeseen events interrupt the work
   2. Key people leave
   3. Resources dwindle
   4. Leadership (and priorities) change
4. Evaluation
   1. We never get to this point
   2. The end of implementation means an end to accountability, so the outcome is not evaluated

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Do good and be well,
 
Frederick