Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Humpty Dumpty

When you discover, all of a sudden, that the Key Change Project for your business is actually ‘culture’ it can come as a shock.

Working in Sheffield with a cutlery manufacturer and his team, we had a room in a hotel with the usual muffins, coffee and buffet lunch. It didn’t really come alive until mid afternoon. But then some members of the senior team felt it was time to open up with the Chair and Managing Director. It wasn’t rude or brutal but it was very forthright, others would say critical.

Some people think that this approach will only “open a can of worms”. Rest assured that without opening the can, there is almost no chance of using this work to develop and sustain competitive advantage.

The two senior people were taken aback; they had no idea about the content or strength of feeling from members of their team. And at the end of the day when the three of us were sitting together, the Managing Director turned to me and said, “I feel as if my business is in pieces on the floor”.

That is quite a common reaction, but just like Humpty Dumpty we can always put the pieces together again.

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