Change implementation is akin to journeying on a bus

For any kind of organizational change implementation – procedural, structural, or technological – to be successful, three key players must be involved.

1. The champion,
2. The change manager, and
3. The employees and/or stakeholders who have to accept and implement the change.

This fundamental premise of change implementation is fittingly illustrated using the metaphor of a bus.

Change management as a bus journey

Think about a change initiative as a journey carrying many people from the status quo to the new state.  For travel from one point to another to occur, first you need the vehicle, in this case the bus.  Which means that you need an investor to finance the purchase of the bus, paint it in team colours, and provide ongoing funding to keep it roadworthy.  This investor is the champion.

Then you need a driver to navigate the bus, plot a route from the beginning to the end of its journey, making stops (and detours if necessary) along the way.  This is the change manager.

And of course you need your passengers to willingly come on board to make the journey.  True, some may have to be dragged on kicking and screaming.  But the majority need to come on voluntarily, and preferably enthusiastically.  These passengers are the employees charged with implementing the change, and other stakeholders who face the outcomes of the change.

Each role is critical to successful change implementation

Each of these three players have essential roles.  Without a champion, there is no change initiative, and any effort will falter quickly.  Even if there is a champion, without a change manager, there is no one to drive the bus.  And the change initiative will simply remain parked in champion’s “wish list” parking lot somewhere.  Unless the champion and the change manager can persuade the majority of the stakeholders to get on board the bus and travel the journey with them, the change initiative is doomed to eventual failure.  It is important to note that not all stakeholders need to get on the bus, just a critical mass, enough to make the trip worthwhile.

This basic premise of change management is central to a successful change initiative.  Yet there are numerous examples of failed change implementations (or ones that didn’t even get started) because one or more of these key players were either weak or even absent.  What has been your experience with change management in this context?  Please share by adding your comment below.