No one wants the doctor to tell them that the surgery was successful but sadly the patient died. And yet in government, this happens all too often as agencies pursue their digital transformation efforts. How do we know? Problems with adoption. Low turnout at trainings. High volume service-desk tickets that just won’t abate. New fixes and features that confound rather than delight users. And brilliant workarounds that tell us users aren’t having it — i.e., they’re not “getting with the program.” But why?
Buying an IT solution in and of itself won’t fix what ails you. Most digital transformations involve integrating, up to the enterprise level, key business processes that may until now have been unexamined and/or unchallenged for years, siloed, duplicative, even no longer relevant. But removing the old and installing the new is not what’s transformational. What is transformational is how — and when — change leaders engage the people on their teams, their stakeholders and their customers in the change process. That is where the potential for real transformation resides.
Removing your current system(s) and installing a new one is like heart surgery. Stay with me here.
The heart that got you to this point won’t get you to the next. There isn’t a heart transplant in the world that doesn’t require the patient to be involved in determining the need for, planning, risks and realities — as well as the enormous possibilities — of what will happen as part of their transplant experience.
Meaning? In terms of government, stakeholders must be part of the transformation process in the beginning — like, from the get-go — for optimal user adoption, and not after the goals are set or after the plan is committed to paper.
The facts: Doctors want patients to understand what their options are as part of the run-up to a transplant — the idea is, the fewer surprises all around, the better the chance of recovery and success. In other words: Here are the risks if you don’t opt for the surgery, here are the benefits if you do. Here are things you need to start doing to prepare, here are things you need to stop. Here’s what you can expect to see as you move through this process. And, frankly, here are things that could go wrong, based on experience, that we will work to mitigate. But, here are all the ways we’ve seen success in case after case.
Meaning? You should partner with your agency team and stakeholders. Use plain language to explain the change that’s being considered and the implications for the organization if we do — or don’t — head down this path. Describe how leadership and teams will collaborate to make the project work. And continue to say all of this, not once in an email or an all-hands announcement, but through ongoing conversations. Remember, this is a change, so “no” to sugar-coating and “yes” to empathy.
Take your anti-rejection meds. Now we get to the “heart” of the matter: discouraging the patient’s antibodies from reacting against the removal of the old heart, because those antibodies want to prevent the body from accepting the new one. Doctors know that being proactive about dealing with this naturally occurring “rejection” phenomenon enhances the new heart’s chances of operating in its new environment and becoming compatible with the patient’s body as a whole.
Meaning? An organization — like the human body — is a system of systems: It’s organic, prefers stasis and instinctively resists intrusion. So, when a change of systemic magnitude — e.g., a digital transformation — is being planned, it’s essential to anticipate and think through how to mitigate the impact of naturally occurring organizational antibodies that may slow or resist (reject) this IT solution. These antibodies may take the form of policies and processes that no longer work and must also change, users who need more than just training, organizational structures that are siloed or outdated, or staff who don’t understand or even oppose the change.
Pre- and Post-Op Patient Education: There isn’t a doctor in the world who won’t preach diet and exercise. Take your meds. Go to the emergency room if you have chest pain. Know the signs of rejection. And practitioners often recommend peer support groups for psychological support and safety.
Meaning? The fact that your IT solution is up and running doesn’t mean your digital transformation work is done. Resistance to change and change fatigue can pop up anytime and cause a drag on operations. Tag teams, communities of practice, spaces for innovation, and frequent multi-level dialogue all can help your team members adapt and open the door to new ways of thinking about your organization’s work and the needs of your customers.
Love can be blind. Sometimes people fall in love with a digital innovation that promises to fix the knottiest business process challenge and forget that it’s going to be humans who have to live not just with this digital solution, but its — both expected and too often unforeseen — impacts for years to come. A leader may fully embrace the new solution but fail to build and execute pre- and post-op (transformation) protocols to make sure team members don’t flounder, resist, or obstruct change even as the solution itself is flawlessly installed.
Doctor, heal thyself. Good change leaders change. That said, some leaders in government see change as a remedy for others but not for themselves. Effective change leaders put themselves in the shoes of their team members and consider: What must my team be feeling? What concerns can I address? What information is needed to help people see the way forward? What can I do to say “no” to sugar-coating and “yes” to empathy? Good change leaders ask themselves these tough questions — and the result is their digital transformations are more likely to succeed.
Nina is a change management practitioner with Rockwood Company, a woman-owned Washington-based strategy and change management consulting firm serving government leaders and their teams as they work to address our nation’s most complex and meaningful challenges. In her client work, Nina supports a wide variety of organizational change efforts — from digital transformations and functional re-alignments to the stand-up of enterprise risk management programs, organization-wide policy-change initiatives and more. She has an MA in Communications and an MS in Organization Development, and graduated from both the Johns Hopkins Fellows in Change Management Program and Georgetown University’s McDonough School’s Change Management Advanced Practitioner Program (CMAP). She is ProSci trained, and has written about organizational change for govloop.com, Change Management Review, and Government Executive.
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