Previously, we wrote about our work with CEOs at ITESM in Mexico. These were 50 very smart, successful business leaders who brought us in to help them find new markets and change their corporate cultures. The real challenge, they told us, was how to change their organizations. There are a number of ways to create a more innovative culture, embed change processes into those old, established ones, and provide more skill-development and confidence so your employees can embrace change. I thought I would share with you some of the things we discussed so you can build your own tool kit for taking the new and making it happen.
Today, in this Part 1 of the discussion, I want to talk about one approach that you might take—namely, to bring in the consultants and let them help you design, develop and implement the new "you." Being management consultants, we often are brought in to do just that—become the chief strategists for an organization and help them go through the changes. Yet, we know that it is hard to build a new organization from the outside-in. It doesn't always work well and I want to start this blog with an illustrative case to show you some of the pitfalls that you must anticipate if you are going to use consultants wisely.
This particular client situation was one where those "other" consultants did not achieve the desired results. As a case study, it serves to illustrate how to re-think the best use of outside resources. Use consultants. Let them help your organization develop and implement a change in direction. But make sure those consultants understand how to Engage, Educate and Manage Expectations—the key to the toolkit—among your own team.
You may want to get to the toolkit right away so you can start to try this aproach to take that new strategy and make it happen. Take a look at this webinar before you read further—or read on!
