This month we provide a summary of Chapter 13, Integration Means Change, in Integrating Program Management and Systems Engineering (IPMSE), a collaboration of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Consortium for Engineering Program Excellence (CEPE) at the Massachusetts (USA) Institute of Technology (MIT). This is our fourteenth article in this series. Our objective in providing this series is to encourage subscribers to leverage the research base of this book that has provided new knowledge and valuable insights that will serve to strengthen the performance of complex programs. “The Book” is highly recommended as professional development for all systems engineers and is available to members of INCOSE at a discount, purchasable here.
Chapter 13 is the first of three chapters in Part III of The Book, labelled Developing Integration Competencies in Your Organization (Chapter 14 is titled Successful Change Programs that Improved Integration; Chapter 15 is titled Leading an Integration Change Program).
Recall from the Summary of Chapter 12 that was provided in last month’s issue of PPI SyEN that the research results illustrated how effective integration between program management and systems engineering disciplines produces value for the organization:
- Through traditional measures of program performance such as requirements fulfillment and client satisfaction.
- Additional tangible benefits that include a more reliable program performance with fewer deadline overruns.
- Added competitive agility.
- Strengthened teamwork.
- More effective communication.
Chapter 13 begins with an overview of what is required to produce sustained change in complex organizations. An organization, and particularly an organization that employs systems engineers, program managers, project managers, and sophisticated technical experts, is a complex, interdependent network of resources, processes, and technologies that create value for the organization and its beneficiaries (clients, customers, receivers) through the work they produce. A continuous improvement change program must take into account the multiple dimensions of the organization, including stakeholder needs and values, the organizational structure and culture, and the interconnectivity of functions within. Organizational transformation modifies an organization while it is in action and moves it from its current state to an envisioned future – a process that requires a significant change in approach, mindset, the adoption of a holistic view of how the program will work, and a comprehensive plan for execution of the change program. Integration will require change and change is difficult. Most organizations will require concerted and deliberate effort to effectively implement and manage the change to realize benefits. Further, sustaining change over time requires ongoing effort to reinforce and support the new way of working together.
A Model for Sustainable Change developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI)[1] is provided that includes the following components:
- Support from the top
- Utilize change-sustaining approaches
- Shift paradigms when needed
- Talk and communicate
- Assimilate and integrate
- Invest in planning for sustained results
Negotiate results with a portfolio approach
SUSTAIN
This model suggests an intentional approach for organizations (see page 262 of The Book for more details). The intent is to ensure that all of the highly interrelated elements of the change program receive ongoing attention. It is emphasized that many organizations undertake extensive change initiatives but many fail to achieve their objectives or are unable to sustain the change. Research has found that a holistic systems approach is required to achieve lasting, effective change.[2] A change program must take into account the multiple dimensions of the enterprise, including its various stakeholder needs and values, the culture of the organization, and the interconnectivities of different functions of the enterprise such as design, manufacturing, the supply base, and on and on.
Implementing change in a complex program environment requires systems thinking, a fundamental concept for systems engineers. Systems thinking involves understanding that a system exists within a wider context and/or environment, and that a system is made up of parts that interact with each other and the wider context. Systems thinkers consider an issue fully, resist the urge to come to a quick conclusion, and consider both short- and long-term consequences (INCOSE, 2015).
Many who seek to implement change in an organization rush into implementation before first providing the groundwork for success. The upfront effort to consider how the organization will respond to the change and how best to nurture the change has significant payoffs. Further, consistent follow-through will be needed to sustain the change long term. Successful and sustained change in complex program environments requires a system of change that works hand-in-glove with the organization’s objectives, business systems, leadership, culture, and daily operations.
The reason for failure of change programs often can be traced to some form of resistance to change. Resistance to change is typically thought of in terms of individuals not supporting the change – either passively or actively. While individuals are one source, resistance can be defined as anything – people or systems – that pushes against the change. In one way of thinking, forces pushing for the change and forces pushing against the change are identified and analyzed. When the forces pushing for the change exceed the forces pushing against the change, then, and only then, will change happen in a sustainable way. Therefore, it is important to be aware of common forces of resistance so that their force is minimized or eliminated.
Nightingale and Srinivasan[3] identified eight common failures of transformational change that are described in Table 13-1 on page 264 of The Book. One key element common to all of the failure types is the absence of taking a systems approach to change, which results in some form of resistance. You might take a closer look at the examples from the list to understand how these types of failures might emerge as a source of failure in integration efforts. Review and consideration of these potential stumbling blocks may be both invaluable and useful.
The change process begins with the establishment of the driving business reason for change. The Strategic Phase begins with identifying the strategic imperative for change, and, at a high level, stating the strategic objective of the change. This is about the business case and answering the following questions:
Why do we need to do this?
What is the business value we are trying to achieve?
What if we do not integrate?
A Planning Phase provides a transformation program plan. The plan must have elements related to each of the inputs in the Integration Framework (this framework was described in this series in PPI SyEN 61 – January 2018[4]): processes, practices, and tools; organizational environment people competencies; and contextual factors. In addition, a benefits roadmap would be one of the outputs of planning.
Stakeholder identification and analysis is critical and is described on pages 269-270 of The Book. Also provided is a description of the characteristics of a change agent.[5]
Assessing an enterprise’s readiness for change is an important part of the strategy phase in a transformational change effort. It is important to understand that what is being assessed is cultural readiness, commitment readiness of key stakeholders and resources, and the capability of the organization to be able to expend resources to implement and sustain the change.[6]
Industry tools for developing a readiness assessment are noted, including the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program, the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), and the LAI Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT).
Combe recommends keeping in mind that “Change readiness takes a critical look at an organization’s resolve, fit, and capacity to successfully deliver the benefits of a proposed program or project, and initiates appropriate actions to bring a current state of readiness to one of confidence in long-term success of the program/project outcomes”.
With senior leadership committed to and personally engaged in achieving the benefits the change will bring about, others within the organization will be inspired to do what it takes to see the change through so that it succeeds and continues to produce value for the organization well into the future.
Research indicates that companies that adopt formal approaches to integrating program management and systems engineering roles are likely to achieve more complete integration of those disciplines.[7] The importance of careful planning and the sustained engagement of senior leaders cannot be overstated. IBM reported findings from its survey of CEOs regarding strategy implementation.[8] The top challenges to success included:
Changing mindsets and values (58%)
Corporate culture (49%)
Underestimation of complexity (33%)
You may want to identify effective change agents in your program management organization and in your systems engineering organization and thoughtfully consider examples of transformation initiatives or changes that your organization has already experienced – were these successful? Why or why not? Why is taking a systems approach to transformation more likely to succeed?
References
Changefirst. “A Research-based Exploration of the Role of the Change Agent in Organizational Change”. White Paper retrieved from http://www.changefirst.com/, 2011. Changefirst is a company based in the UK, Australia, and Brazil that delivers services globally. Changefirst started providing a set of ten change-related tools online for its clients in 2006. The company now has a significant database with over 26,000 respondents and almost 400,000 data points. The data is held it its Enterprise Change Management Platform called e-change and is available to be utilized by practitioners on a subscription basis.
Changefirst. “The Power of Data: Understanding Change: Legacy and Tracking Risks”. White Paper retrieved from http://www.changefirst.com/, 2014. The challenges of implementation of change projects are
[1] Harrington, H. James, Frank Voehl, and Christopher F. Voehl, Model for Sustainable Change, Program Management Institute, 2015. White Paper available at https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/model-sustainable-change-11122
[2] Nightingale, Deborah, and Jayakanth Srinivasan. Beyond the Lean Revolution: Achieving and Sustaining Successful Enterprise Transformation. New York: AMACOM Press, 2011. Available at https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Lean-Revolution-Sustainable-Transformation/dp/0814417094/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1529442068&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Beyond+the+Lean+Enterprise%3A+Achieving+and+Sustaining+Successful+Enterprise+Transformation
[3] Ibid.
[4] Available at https://www.ppi-int.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/SyEN_61.pdf
[5] McKinney, D., E. Arnold, and Sarah Sheard, “Change Agency for Systems Engineers”. INCOSE International Symposium. 25(1), 1209-1231, 2015. The authors identify characteristics of an effective change agent and summarize their findings in three dimensions: philosophy, knowledge, and skills. One of the key skills is systems thinking.
[6] Combe, Marge. Change Readiness: Focusing Change Management Where it Counts. White Paper available at https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/change-readiness-11126
[7] Conforto, E. C., M. Rossi, Eric Rebentisch, J. Oehmen, and M. Pacenza. Survey Report: Improving Integration of Program Management and Systems Engineering: Results of a Joint Survey by PMI and INCOSE, Presented at the 23rd INCOSE Annual International Symposium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA, June 2013. Available at https://www.pmi.org/learning/library?q=Survey+Report%3A+Improving+Integration+of+Program+Management+and+Systems+Engineering[
[8] IBM. Making Change Work: Continuing the Enterprise of the Future Conversation. Armonk, NY: International Business Machines Corporation. Available at http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/pdf/gbe03100-usen-03-making-change-work.pdf.The document provides a list of questions that facilitate identification of your organization’s current change readiness status; and encourages one to look for patterns in the responses that prioritize improvement opportunities. The report concludes that companies can no longer justify or afford an ad hoc approach to change management
Author
Ralph Rowland Young
