In my article “The logic of failure in improvement initiatives” I stated that between 60 and 80 percent of change initiatives in companies fail. Here we should ask ourselves what it was that actually failed? What is the object to change? What is an organisation? We can identify very quickly an organisation called Apple, BMW, Johnson & Johnson, Shell, etc. However, are we in an organisation when we simply walk through the company door or sign an employment contract? What happens when all the staff go home in the evening? Do they carry the organisation with them in their heads? Or does the organisation remain back in the offices, the furniture or in the documents waiting to be called to life again on the following day?
Organizational models
The fact is that organizations cannot be reduced to a building or a piece of geared machinery for which change can be managed simply by changing gear or pressing a button on a machine. From the perspective of systems theory, organizations are living social systems, which have a high degree of complexity. If you are prepared to take the risk of excessive polarization, two completely different organization models can be outlined:
Mechanistic organization
Systemic organization
Comprehensible and clearly structured
Complex and contradictory in itself
Linear causal chains
Multiple interactions
Central control, guided by a rational plan
Self-controlled, following its own laws
Formal logic
Integration of contradictions
Primarily target driven
Primarily sense driven
Hard facts and rational relationships
Hard and soft factors, emotions
Structure and process oriented
Oriented towards operational patterns and routines
High significance attached to individual requirements and controls
High significance attached to joint reflection, cooperation and ensuring results
Change through instruction and command
Change through dialogue and conviction
Centralised management
Polycentric management
In relation to a Kanban change initiative we can recognize that prescribing Kanban through a managed transition “from above” is the mechanistic view. The same holds true if Kanban is focused only on practices without following the principles. (More on the principles in the blog post “Signposts towards a culture of continuous improvement.”)
If you see organizations as living social systems, you come very quickly to the realization that for successful and sustainable change it takes more than regulation of a few practices or rules. Change requires attentive perception of what is happening in the company and the involvement of the individuals concerned.
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Change cannot be installed by a mechanic. This holds also true if you’re trying to install an Agile method on your company! Foster agility in your change process and do not install an Agile method like a mechanic.