Washing the dog

I've given some thought this morning to how to change the culture of an organisation with efficacy. Now, you could come up with all sorts of analogies but I'm going to use one I'm pretty familiar with - that of washing a dog. This assumes that a need for change has been identified and agreed. It attempts to take account of how resistance to change can be managed - because it does - even when it's the people themselves coming up with the changes, because not everybody will agree in the early days.

Firstly, you wouldn't approach washing a dog part by part, getting each bit wet, shampooed, rinsed and dried before moving on to the next part- you would wash the dog as a whole, applying each stage to the dog all over before commencing the next part of the task.

But too often we hear senior managers saying "you need to start with the frontline" - those delivering the service or making the product. So we train these guys in lean systems thinking. I liken this to dipping the tail in the bath. The tail gets wet but it doesn't wash the dog. At the other end we hear people on the ground saying "but we need senior managers to understand and support us". So we spend some time training them, which is like washing the head. Again, this bit gets wet too but it's not washing the whole dog. (And anybody who has ever tried to wash a dog knows they especially hate getting their heads wet!)

So to wash the dog we have to submerge its entire body in water so all of it gets wet at the same time. Whilst some dogs love this (mine has a penchant for lakes.....) - just as some companies love to shake things up and be very innovative - the majority HATE getting wet. A wash is imposed on them. They like their current smell, even if you think it stinks. They don't mind the odd bit of dried dirt caked around their elbows and hocks. It's a souvenir from their latest adventures.

So to wash the dog we have to coax them into the bath or other washing area. We have to hold them gently but firmly, steering them where they need to stand. We have to make sure the temperature is not too hot, nor too cold, but just right. We have to shower them slowly so they become wet all over evenly. We have to massage shampoo into their coats and give them lots if reassurance to comfort them, and praise when they have done good.

In the same way, to implement a lean transformation we must apply it to all levels of the organisation simultaneously so one bit doesn't dry out/lose interest before the whole is complete. Change has to happen at the right pace, evenly. Those facilitating the change must be clear, firm, encouraging and reassuring.

Hopefully by the end of the exercise you will have one clean dog (but possibly also a very wet bathroom!)