After several decades of promoting champions in companies as a part of cultural change, I have finally come to the conclusion that it is probably the worst way to implement anything.
Companies don't need champions - what they need is a movement ! By far the biggest reason for failure of reliability projects is that the champion leaves the company. Ask any consultancy, ask anyone who has done this more than four or five times, and ask anybody who tried to champion a project and was burned out by the experience.
So how do you generate a movement as separate from a champion? Well, you need to start with a revolutionary, an idea that spreads, stories and legends, and a noble and realistic outcome.
Conspiracy, underground pilot projects, targeting the right assets - with the right methods, and generating astounding results. That is how a movement is born.
Why? Because once you start to get astounding results, others ant to be a part of it. Senior execs line up to take credit for it, and everyone on the ground floor wants to get involved in the thing that works.
I am going to be writing a lot about this, in particular about some of the practical aspects of it. But have no doubt - if you can create a movement rather than just one or two champions then your initiative will become far larger than you - and you can safely leave it to start another revolution somewhere else.
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