Sustainability

The client has not been sufficiently challenged in the opening stage to ensure they really understand their current position and test the seriousness of their intent to take action. The result is they embark on the journey only to find that they don’t really want to make the necessary sacrifices when under pressure.

A failure to really clarify what root issues caused the present situation. The consequence is that solutions are generated that resolve surface symptoms but don’t touch the root cause.

The creation of imported or ill thought out solutions that will not resolve the problem. This often occurs when clients think they have already made solutions that ‘worked elsewhere’. The trouble is that all solutions are context dependent and can rarely be transported without some form of modification.

The end users or consumers of the engagement are not helped to work through the pain of change and to let go of the old way of thinking, feeling and behaving. The client might be prepared to take on board a new way of working while the consultant is around to act as an external prop, but if the change feels uncomfortable then there will be a natural tendency to revert back to the old way of operating once the consultant has left.

Failure to accurately measure and confirm that the change has delivered the desired outcome. This is often the hard part, actually confirming that the desired change has taken place. The important issue is that it is easy enough to measure the extrinsic factors to demonstrate that the change has been successful, but unless the intrinsic factors are measured then any change may well be a short term fix. No matter how pretty and big the new computer is, how all encompassing the reengineered process is, unless people want to use them they will fail to deliver long-term value for the business. 

Once the client’s eye is off the ball and focused on new ideas they often don’t continue to operate in a new way. There is a natural human tendency to revert back to the comfort zone. It is easy to stay on the diet when in constant contact with the food coach. But what happens when you are out on your on and get confronted by a large chocolate cake. Unless you have really embedded a sense of self reliance and inner security then the old urges will take over and destroy all the good work.

The change is not properly closed down and the end of the engagement just drifts. When this happens it can leave both the client and consultant with a sense of frustration and uncertainty where neither is really sure if they have added the contracted value to the engagement.

At the very outset ensure that whole picture is understood and that the client is not just offering a restricted view or interpretation of their situation. The consultant must seek to understand all the parameters that will impact on the current situation and the desired outcome that the client wishes to achieve. This is important for two reasons. First, it ensures that the client is challenged to fully explore if they really need the support of the consultant or if it is something they can resolve on their own. Secondly, it allows the consultant to test the client’s seriousness of intent. The consultant will not want to spend time and energy working with a client who decides half way through the engagement that they don’t really want to complete the project after all because of budget cuts/market changes/political issues (delete as appropriate). As a partnership it is right that both parties should fully challenge each other to test for seriousness of intent and both have the right to forgo the opportunity to work together.

It is a vary rare problem that doesn’t have roots in a lower level problem, maybe one instigated weeks, months or even years ago. Although it is very easy for the client and consultant to opt to only dig so far in order to clarify and understand the root cause, the consultant has a responsibility to ensure that the full depth of the problem is explored in order to truly resolve and the issue and prevent it resurfacing at a later date. The consultant must always seek to ask why, why and why again and not be prepared to be shrugged of by deflective strategies offered up by the client when they feel that the questioning is getting difficult.

There will always be time pressure in any engagement. Both the coach and client are busy people and are probably being pressured by their boss or organisation to get things moving so they can ‘get back and do some real work’. It is this repressive force that causes both parties to hurriedly seek out instant solutions, quick fixes that can get the problem sorted so they can get on with things. The positive force applied here must be the emotional courage and strength of both players to resist any short term pressure and really try to seek out a solution that is most appropriate for this particular situation and not just borrow a quick fit solution from an earlier engagement.

Once the diagnosis is compete and the solution is established then the client will be put under real pressure. Until this point everything is conceptual and the client can talk about what they are ‘going’ to do. At some stage they will have to ‘do’. It is at this point they have to move out of the comfort zone and really start to address what change they will need to make to achieve the desired outcome The positive force at the stage may well have to come from the consultant. This might be empathic or soft support to help encourage the client through the change or at the other end of a spectrum having to take a more commanding presence to drive the change.

There is a natural human tension that means we are scared to stand on the scales at the end of a weeks dieting, so we often need a positive force to counter this negativity. Often the positive force comes from developing a more robust understanding of the measurement process. So often measurement is a black art that only the brave dare to understand. However, measurement is a really powerful process when used in a positive way. Sometimes you have to be brave and look under the bed in order to find out that there are no monsters lying in wait.

There is no feeling like putting on that comfortable pair of old shoes. You have worn them for years and they have always served you well. One day you decide to change and invest in a new pair. After a day or two your feet ache as the new leather fails to bend to the way you walk and you decide to go back to the old shoes just to save your aching feet. It is this natural resistance to new ways of thinking, feeling and behaving that often kills the engagement. The consultant and client must counteract this repressive force with a positive one. This is often one of preparation, preparation and preparation. In any change process you know that a change is coming so the time to start getting ready for the shift is form the outset of the engagement. Be acutely tuned into what will help make the new way of working comfortable and what factors will cause discomfort. Manage both to amplify the positive forces and attenuate the areas the hinder the change.

Finally, you have just spent the last 6 months running a gruelling project at work and it has really taken is toll on your work and home life. You are sure that everything is wrapped up and complete. You are so confident that when one of the team suggests that you run a closure workshop to dot the I’s and cross the T’s you politely tell them to take a hike. The job is done so now everyone can go on holiday. This is a natural process of coming down from a big high. The trouble is that sometimes you have to resist this pressure to ignore the last element because that is where the learning takes place, the value is realised and any hidden problems are identified. The positive force required at the stage is one of perseverance, just to hold on to the end and hopefully celebrate the success of the change project.

Client - If there is a risk that project is a stopgap and cannot be sustained, then it is better to say no to the project. Although rejecting potential income will always be difficult, the danger is than in accepting a non-starter, the client will eventually regard your input as worthless and may even say this to other people.

Clarify - The cultural and political issues need to be brought out in order to find the basis for longevity. This might include aligning the change with the organisation’s strategic goals; embedding the transformation into the company HR systems and processes; or modifying the reward system.

Create - Develop ideas and process that align with the organisation values and do not work in opposition to the natural forces. If a revolutionary rather than evolutionary change is required, make sure that the engagement has plenty of supporting hooks to lock in the transformation once you have left

Change - When you map the energy being used to drive change, ensure that it will continue after your departure - if not, then try to lock in alternative energy sources to maintain pressure on the organisation.

Confirm - When you design the confirmation process, the tendency is to measure how things work now - especially if your client is looking for proof of output to guarantee payment. However, it is also important to look for proof of sustainability - have people really accepted the change and is it embedded into the behaviours or management systems that the company operates?

Close - Ensure that the client is aware of the sustaining hooks that have been used in the engagement and what action needs to be taken to ensure they hold in place.