“The intelligent have plans; the wise have principles.”

How successful can we be in delivering truly meaningful change without a set of guiding principles? It’s certainly something worth thinking about. Let’s start by looking at this in the context of the article’s leading quote (courtesy of Raheel Farooq).

A solid plan is one of the foundations required for any work to be successful. From large-scale transformation, to small change and BAU. At its simplest, it gives us a time boxed, meaningful set of tasks and milestones that will get us from A to B. We’re unlikely to make significant headway, without a plan. Simple stuff. Thanks for reading!

…before you go, let’s take a minute to think about our guiding principles. Let’s start with another simple definition before moving on. Our principles are the fundamental beliefs and ways of working that form the foundation of our approach to delivery. They provide the basis on which we work and give us the fundamental tenets on which we can return, reset and rebalance, when the pressures and complexities of work begin to take us in different directions.

Now that we have our definitions, let’s ask ourselves some simple questions, in respect of the work we do. Have we built a plan and approach to delivery with our guiding principles in mind? Do we know what our guiding principles are? Do we have any guiding principles?

If we’re answering ‘no’ to any of these questions, we’re at risk of heading off on a long, protracted and costly journey into the abyss, even if we’re working to a meticulous set of plans.

If we’re answering ‘yes’ to all of these questions; fantastic! We’re on our way but there’s still work to do. After all, it’s often easier to make principles than it is to live by them. Any change manager who has worked on scaling DevOps, delivering Big Data or completing a Cloud Migration, within a large enterprise, will vouch for that.

Our next steps are to ensure we align with and keep sight of our principles. This often means some disruptive change that goes beyond any new technology being delivered. Changes to Company Culture, Organisational Design and Operating Models all come under the microscope here.

Let’s pick an example. This week we’ll go with Big Data. Big Data solutions are not, in and of themselves, a silver bullet solution that meet the end to end data requirements of a large and complex enterprise. Organisations can find themselves with a mess of disjointed processes and unmanageable data, in spite of a ‘successful’ technological implementation.

Successful transformations come with a working set of principles that drive cultural, operational and technological change. If we go back to our Big Data example, we are likely to find that working to simple but highly effective principles such as, “Consolidate the Data” and “Fix at Source” are incredibly powerful fundamentals on which to deliver and sustain truly meaningful change. Communicating and working to these principles proactively drives key areas for change (Culture, Data Management, Technical Architecture and Operating Models) and prevents the creation of time consuming and costly cottage industries as well as flakey, bolt-on downstream solutions and adjustments.

Our next challenge is to ensure we maintain buy-in for our guiding principles. It’s easy to discard principles when they become or are perceived as inconvenient. An organisation deeply entrenched in previous ways of working doesn’t change overnight. As Change Managers, this is where we bring our expertise to the table. Challenging and changing perceptions by evidencing benefits that can be linked back to our guiding principles that provide a powerful and positive vision of the future.

Whatever approach we take to Change or BAU, it makes sense to create and work according to an intelligent set of principles. After all, it’s these principles that drive the culture and behaviours that create favourable outcomes for everybody.

For more help and information on this article and the services we offer, contact us at info@verander.co.uk