Have you ever wondered….? 

You strike a golf ball and it sails through the air in a nice arc. It lands on the green and rolling, rolling, rolling past the hole, it then rolls off again at the other side into a bunker.

And infuriatingly, you compare yourself with a pro who makes a similar shot, but the ball does a nice backtrack on the green and drops in the hole.

The pro has it and you don’t. The answer is technique. There’s a right and wrong way to do most things – playing a sport, making a speech, baking a cake.  Technique is everything.

Technique and change management.

People and many businesses are a bit scared of change and uncertainty.

We constantly try to create a new world order as the ground shifts beneath us – assessing trends, creating strategies, sounding out the competition.

But what techniques do we use to scope, manage and deliver change?

Some published change methods are out of date, somewhat academic and stop short of delivery. One approach from a well know strategy house ends in ‘develop the recommendation’. That’s not good enough.

We know that the most difficult part is to deliver change. That’s why The Labovitch Consultancy’s 8^th pillar of change is ‘Make Change Happen’. The whole 8 Pillars of Change combine sound strategic, practical, creative and engaging techniques, giving a successful holistic approach to change and transformation http://labovitch.co.uk/the-8-pillars-of-change/.

Technique applied to business sector.

I’m often asked, “Do you have at least 5 years’ experience in sector X or sector Y?” And if not, is your technique still applicable when working in unfamiliar sectors?

It’s a sobering thought that some of our best and ground-breaking work has been in relatively unfamiliar businesses. A fresh approach, well placed questions and an ability to transcend corporate layers often delivers solutions that couldn’t be achieved had we been ourselves steeped in the industry.

Clients still do perceive deep sector knowledge as important, but an experienced transformation manager will quickly get up to speed with the facts and use vital delivery techniques, irrespective of the industry.

Flying over the deserts of California – using the same technique as flying over England.

The change and transformation manager can be likened to an aircraft pilot. People might say – oh you’ve never flown through ‘our skies’ and yet the technique of flying is essentially the same whatever the location.

If you’ve got the right technique and knowledge to manage change, a good CM should be able to do so under all conditions.

Engagement – the mystery box.

I’ve spent my life naturally engaging with colleagues and audiences.  At first in Africa imparting new farming techniques; I taught in a rough, tough school in Bristol and got the kids motivated, then as a development manager in America’s Mid-West. For the past 20 years I’ve been engaging with clients across industry and government as a change consultant.

I found it normal and quite easy to engage but nature has somehow created business as a rational and somewhat detached occupation. Many great business leaders not only find it hard to engage, but actually don’t have the understanding of ‘what engagement is’.  Its simply not on their radar.

The question continually arises ‘What’s the difference between communication and engagement?’. The answer is, you are engaged when you do something differently, act in a different way or take on a new way of working.

Change and transformation by definition require an engaged workforce and the techniques and toolbox of the change manager will bring this about.  Without engagement we and our organisations simply won’t grow, learn or stay competitive.

When I lie down and when I rise up.

It’s on the door post of my house and with me when I lie down, when I rise up and walk by the wayside and it will be my epitaph – technique is everything.

Leon Labovitch is CEO of The Labovitch Consultancy www.labovitch.co.uk and presenter of The Eight Pillars of Change.

The Labovitch Consultancy

Strength for Change, Success for Transformation.