Harvey Schachter of The Globe and Mail posted an excellent article reviewing Carolyn Aiken's and Scott Keller's nine insights on how human nature gets in the way of an organization's change effort, originally published in the McKinsey Quarterly. The article reflects on the fact that only one in three change initiatives succeed, and is full of interesting insights like this example:

Today's change-management literature places a premium on identifying and mobilizing those in the organization who either by role or personality - or both - have disproportionate influence over how others think and behave. That is sound advice, but doesn't mean influence leaders are a panacea. Success depends less on how persuasive a few selected leaders are and more on how receptive the "society" is to the idea. In practice, often-unexpected members of the rank and file feel compelled to step up and make the difference in pushing change.

A business process improvement methodology like the one we advocate and use has so much of a higher likelihood of success, because the recommendations for improvement come directly from the people who actually do the work. Research has proven it.

Read the full article here.