“The 'build it and they will come' fallacy - why change management is critical for success”

Several times during my career as a Business Consultant in Perth I have had clients, passionate about the solutions they are implementing tell me the solution they are implementing is so good (or better than what they had before) that they will have no trouble with people jumping on board to use it.

And to a point they are often right, the new solution is objectively better and will make peoples’ lives easier.

In my experience this “build it and they will come” mentality has meant that adoption of these new solutions inevitably suffers.

Why “build it and they will come” is a fallacy?

Because an assumption was made that change management was not needed.

Regardless of how good the new solution may be, success depends on each impacted individual effectively adapting to the new way of doing things. For this they need to be willing and able to transition to adopt and use

the new solution.

Subsequently, return on investment suffers and anticipated business benefits (financial and non-financial) fall short of what was expected.

When the need for change management is underestimated, (or even worse, completely ignored), people are unable to successfully adopt change:

• People may not understand what the change is, or why the organisation is pursuing the change i.e. how it aligns with the organisation’s direction;
• People may not understand how the change is going to benefit them or the wider organisation;
• Managers may not be in a position with the required knowledge of the change to coach and empower their people;
• People may not have the information or skills they need to effectively use the new solution;
• Peoples’ questions or concerns regarding the change are not identified or are ignored, which can lead to passive or active resistance of the change.

Change management support at the ready

But it is not all doom and gloom - there is a better way. As a business consultant in Perth for Interfuze, I am always keen to use my skills and experience to help clients support their people through change.

Part of this is helping my clients:

• Spend time to manage the people side of change, rather than just technical implementation;
• Establish and communicate a compelling case for why the change is needed and what the risk to the organisation is of not changing;
• Understand that the desire to change is a personal choice for every individual;
• Address people’s concerns and questions including the “what’s in it for me?” question;
• Ensure that senior leaders are active and visible during the change as project sponsors;
• Engage middle managers and empower them as change leaders and as critical feedback channels so they can coach their people through the change;
• Anticipate resistance and work to proactively address objections and concerns to minimise disruption to the project.

Get in touch for more

If you have an amazing solution you are implementing but need some assistance, or you want to learn more about change management, I’d love to have a chat!

I have been working with organisations for 15 years to help them sustainably improve and manage change. Get in touch to find out more.