My three requirements for change
My three requirements for change are:
- Benefits must outweigh the cost
- Get buy-in from stakeholders
- One change at a time
Benefits must outweigh the cost
Change should always be done with the goal of making something better. If it doesn’t, then why shake up the status quo if things are working fine? Accordingly, knowing the “why?” behind every change helps us understand the long-term effects and ROI. No change is without tradeoffs, so performing a cost-benefit analysis is a must.
Get buy-in from stakeholders
Getting buy-in is critical because if people aren’t onboard, then it’s doomed to fail. Hence, the very first step is to sell the change rather than to implement it. This ensures that everyone is motivated to see it through and if there are disagreements, then it gets brought up. You can use an RFC process to propose change.
One change a time
Focusing on one change at a time minimizes the chaos that can occur. If there are too many changes happening at once, not only will it fail, but it will create complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Think of each change as an experiment. To tell if a test succeeds or not, you must control the variables and minimize external influences. Then you can properly assess if it’s the change that led to the outcome.
