Transformations fail when they are not completely and fully bought in by everyone co
ncerned. Too often senior leadership sees the need and agrees with the strategy to change. There is usually a groundswell of agreement throughout the organization as to the need for the change. This may sound like acceptance. It rarely is, and this is where the execution falls apart.
Often there are presentations to the staff explaining the need and the process. Leaders ask for buy in and will get it. But then something goes wrong….
As a senior executive at a media company, I was charged with digital transformation in news. I ran the digital division which included the major TV station news sites, hyperlocal news sites and lifestyle sites. This required getting the news teams and senior station management to agree to break news on their associated websites first. Of course, this is accepted practice today, but at the time, it was anathema to news departments.
The hard part was convincing general managers and news directors to work with the digital teams to break news first digitally and much of my time was spent trying to convince them to do so. Corporate communication was primarily with the general managers. It should have included the entire news department. It was a slog and was met with verbal acceptance followed by a passive aggressive, ignoring the request response. In other words, it did not happen. Why not?
There was no benefit to them to do so. There was no emotional satisfaction or financial gain, it was another thing to think about when news broke, and managers were concerned that their competitors would not follow suit leaving them as the only station in town to do so. A theoretical or future benefit is not incentive enough.
Looking back upon the circumstances, what could be done differently to shorten the time to transformation? Changing workflow is so incredibly difficult to do and cannot be achieved with a dictate from corporate – broccoli is good for you but telling someone that does not mean that they will eat it. Adding cheese sauce might make it more palatable. Changing workflow requires positive affirmation no matter how small that gain. Who wouldn’t agree that cheese sauce or something likes it, improves broccoli?
What could have been done differently?
Bringing those affected into the decision making is a good start. This must go beyond management so there is complete understanding and hopefully agreement.
Consistent updates and communication are needed and often are reduced too quickly after launch. This is the most critical time to keep talking and sharing the benefits, risks, and outcomes.
Rewards and celebrations for incremental change can be a huge help. Immediate recognition and consistent celebrations are needed. Even something small like candy bars all around or lunch provided for the team that exemplified the change helps.
Make change palatable. Successful execution requires cheese sauce.
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