• You know it, you don't hear it for the first time!
• You know it, it is clear to you, change is needed!
• You can do it, you also have the know-how in the company!
• But you do not get into action and into a lived culture?
==> the topics are not implemented, or the project is stuck?
The Xth "Management by... concept" has been published, the Y-th leadership philosophy, books upon books have been and are still being written on how to manage companies and how entrepreneurs should behave so that their company is managed in a stable way in the future.
If one lets all these concepts and suggestions from the last decades pass in such a way review, one must get the impression that everything runs in our enterprises in the best way, with the co-workers and high-level personnel arrived and also was internalized. Current practice, however, shows a different picture: changes are seldom completely implemented, projects get stuck halfway through, blind performance on the one hand and thus a "shortage of skilled workers" on the other are the order of the day. We have just experienced again how unstable our corporate structures are in the face of unexpected external stress and how little of the entire management concepts and the entire knowledge of those responsible has ultimately reached the employees.
How does all this fit together?
Are the concepts wrong, outdated, or inappropriate? Probably not, because behind every idea there is a necessity and well-intentioned, often provable and working intention out of the respective situation. However, we do not necessarily get better by knowing more management concepts, reading more books, gathering more information from all media, or being overwhelmed by them.
What is missing in day-to-day practice is the consistent implementation of the nice ideas into everyday business, up to an actual competence development and sustainable change of working methods (Figure). We inform ourselves, build knowledge, send our employees on training courses, but actual action is missing. Only through "doing" with corresponding competence development, can a self-image develop and result in a lived culture.
Who takes the time to pick up the employees and, together with the people concerned, actually bring the topics presented in theory to the ground? Who gives the employees the freedom to put the ideas into practice? This takes time and effort, sometimes months or even years depending on the project. In retrospect we are smarter, but unfortunately, we do not change our approach for the next project.
So we need time, time and more time for the implementation, in connection with an active methodical, pedagogical accompaniment, then we would definitely be better than today and probably it would never have needed the multitude of concepts to counteract, adapt or change!
Of course, this time also costs resources in the form of employees and money, which must be included in the implementation from the very beginning. Those who only consider the "acquisition costs" of change projects will ultimately fail due to a lack of resources.
Managers in our companies must also be measured more by whether and how many projects have actually been implemented (up to the lived culture) and not only by short-term target figures. The pure numerical focus (on e.g., sales, DB or similar) is usually in competition with a sustainable implementation of projects. Because the quick success of one is the death of the other.
The number of failed projects and change initiatives in companies is high. Far too high the effort and working time that is spent over and over again. Far too bad the energy of the employees that is wasted in the process. Can a company afford that in the long run?
So, invest in a methodically accompanied implementation of your projects!
Lean complete, Bernd Kühme April 2021
(Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version))