Insights · From Stu’s forthcoming article
Eight questions to answer before a technology rollout
“As a consultant, I’ve seen many organizations thrive after introducing or upgrading their information technology capabilities. However, I have also witnessed cases where the technology fell spectacularly short of the desired performance gains and behavior changes.”
Stuart M. Smith, Ph.D., Leveraging Technology to Reinvent Your Organization: With Commensurate Changes in Culture and Process
The core idea
A new system won’t reinvent an organization on its own
Processes and culture have to change with it. These are the questions that guided one organization’s transformation.
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Why are we implementing this new technology?
Buying a system because competitors did tends to lock you into the vendor’s settings. Spell out the results you want, and think through the unintended consequences, before you buy.
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What must leadership do to drive and sustain the change?
Sponsors need full commitment from start to finish, and their behavior must match their words. That commitment has to reach every level of management, with accountability built into the project.
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What is the ripple effect on the organization?
A change in one part of an organization pulls on every other part. Technology ripples furthest, because every function uses it.
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Can the organization handle this change?
Assess readiness before you start: how much change people have absorbed recently, how they relate to management, and how much more disruption they can take. Surveys, focus groups and conversations with informal leaders all help.
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What else is going on, and how do we leverage it?
Other initiatives already underway can support the change or derail it. In the case Stu describes, an IT upgrade that was already underway was used to support a culture change.
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How do we make the change manageable?
Break it into phases and smaller pieces. Pilot it in one department, learn as you go, and refine before you expand.
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Do frameworks exist that could help us?
A framework like BEAM shows the gap between where each part of the organization is and where it needs to be, and what it will take to close it.
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How do we keep things moving during the upheaval?
Plan every communication: why, what, how, to whom and when. Pace training so people build skill and confidence step by step.
When major change happens – change that is felt personally in the gut – it disrupts a person’s sense of control, competence, confidence and comfort.
Three practical rules
- Involve employees in the change process.
- Communicate with stakeholders throughout the change process.
- Reduce surprises and ambiguity.
The full article, a detailed case study, is forthcoming.
Earlier writing
Also by Stu
The National Provisioner, 2009
Conducting a “Health Check” of Your Organization
How a structured audit finds where an organization is out of alignment. Also presented at the American Society for Quality.
The National Provisioner, 2010
Finding the Right Fit
How to leverage culture to drive project team success.
Presentation, 2025
Building a High-Performance Ethical Culture
Presented to the senior team of Haztek Safety Management, Philadelphia.
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