CHALLENGE don't just accept!

In an article on Management Issues. com called: "Change needs to shake things up to be successful: author Nic Paton comments on the presentation of Ben Bryant

"Much as making an omelette depends on cracking eggs, successful organisational change depends on disrupting the status quo, employers have been told.

With one in three major organisational changes failing to achieve the efficiency or effectiveness objectives that lie behind them, Ben Bryant of London Business School is set to tell delegates at a conference being run by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development that effective change means moving out of the comfort zone.

Bryant, a fellow at the school's Centre for Management Development, said: 'Some leaders get sucked into reinforcing the predictability of the work environment."

". . . .shape culture change through so-called "cultural conversations."

"They need to be skilful at challenging senior managers, and they need to be comfortable with the risks of letting the change process enter uncharted waters."

Pete's Points:

Perhaps what also needs to be said is that the risk of getting it wrong can be less than a career enhancing move. On the other hand there is also a risk in getting it right. The risk is that the person who has successfully engineered the required organisational change may be seen as someone who can continue to make changes by continuing their challenging behaviour.

Continuing to challenge the status quo time and time again exposes the individual doing this to increasing levels of potential harm and he/she also has to have at least one extremely powerful protector in the system or needs to be able to produce success on each and every occasion to ensure that he/she does not get seriously hurt.

Pete's advice is "Do it by all means, but be careful out there!"