A statistic often quoted is that 70% of transformation initiatives fail. Something said of both business transformation and digital transformation projects.
While the exact source of the stat isn’t grounded in a specific research study, people quote it because they sense the truth around it.
A lot of us have been part of change projects that have failed.
Sometimes failing to reach objectives. Often, they stalled at some roadblock and were cancelled. Or worse, the change didn’t stick and was reversed months later.
As a business leader, you want to be part of the 30% that succeed at transforming our companies.
To be in that group you need to do things differently. Sometimes counter intuitive to traditional project practices.
Rather than always looking backwards and trying to stop doing things that don’t work, you need to look forward and consider doing things that increase the odds that your transformation succeeds.
Sometimes harder to do than it sounds.
Odds increase when you run transformation initiatives as strategic projects.
Doing these key things:
- Keep the vision front and center. Set and measure objectives.
- Focus on your company’s core competencies. Select projects based on potential to positively impact the vision.
- Build a strong transformation team. Upskill, hire, and outsource to gain the skills and knowledge needed. Protect the team’s capacity.
We don’t get down on symptoms of problems or stymied by roadblocks. We press on.
Keep the end in mind, focus on making the important changes along the way, and support the team.
Celebrating when your transformation succeeds.
