"Accelerating the deployment of supply chain strategies"

Judge not whether a theory can be proven to be true . . . rather, judge its value on whether the theory is useful. In that regard, all referenced change theories have value:

• Lewin – a process of thaw, change, freeze
• Weisbord – interaction between formal and informal systems
• Bridges – moving through an individual’s transitional states
• Kotter – the crucial role of leadership in change
• Conner – participatory management and role definition

Project Plato utilizes aspects of all five when developing implementation plans for clients.

The biggest challenge to supply chain initiatives is usually not in the process or the technology – its in the people. How do you ensure that your people are onboard and that the greater organization supports them?

Project Plato imbeds change management activities into its workshops, implementation plans and consulting efforts. No solution exists until implementation is complete.

Well thought out change management initiatives reduce the quality, cost and time risks inherent in supply chain initiatives.

Change theory is great but how does one actually apply it in an effective manner? Andrea Shapiro does a fantastic job of explaining how in her book, Creating Contagious Commitment and through her experiential workshop, the Tipping Point.

The Tipping Point is an exciting and dynamic model of sustaining workplace change that helps us understand how change happens and how to achieve real results. Inspired by lessons learned from organizational theory, system thinking, and public health, it is based on real-world experience that is applicable to any change initiative.

Research and experience have shown that 50-85% of all organizational change initiatives fail. This means that these needed, well analyzed, and technically appropriate changes never provide business value. They fail due to ignorance of how the change process works in organizations.

The Tipping Point can help stem this tie to failure. It goes to the heart of successfully implementing and sustaining organizational change - the people - recognizing that change happens when people move from being disconnected to committed to a change.

The Tipping Point model has been built into a computer simulation that focuses dialogue and gives insight to the model. The simulation has been used in a facilitated workshop setting by leading companies and business schools to help managers and change agents learn a fresh view of change and improve their implementation - their success rate.

Mis-managing change within an organization is the biggest cause of organization failure. Tom Peters goes as far as to say organizations by their nature can't change fast enough and therefore are meant to become obsolete and die off. Will yours be the exception?