I can’t count how many post-implementation reviews or lessons learned sessions I’ve led. I do them for every change I’m involved in.

But here’s the kicker. No matter how experienced, professional or motivated the team – I’ve never had a review where nothing went wrong. I’ve never had that unicorn of a meeting where we all agreed it went marvellously and headed to the pub for a well-earned glass of fizz.

The hard truth is that change is, well, hard. And at times, an unpredictable beast to harness.

And the reason is that uncertainty is baked in the very definition of a project.

Here’s what I mean:

Business as usual – definition

The work carried out by teams or individuals as part of their standard daily activities.

Vs.

Projects – definition

Unique and temporary in focus, with a definitive start and finish.

The word that’s doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence? ‘Unique’.

So, embrace the uncertainty. The messiness. The slightly bumpy road.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying throw caution to the wind and to hell with risks and plans. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t learn lessons and get better.

I’m just saying, if you plan for a perfect utopia, your reality will be a nightmare.

• Plan for issues and have a great team on hand to resolve them quickly.
• Listen to your users every step of the way to know their needs and how the changes will land.
• Manage the expectations of the Board and Exec so they know what’s coming. Then manage them again because they didn’t listen to you the first time!
• Make it ok for the team to get it wrong and fix it.

Any change worth making is going to be messy at times. If you know that, you’ll have the perfect clean-up crew on hand ready to tidy up.

P.S. And if you want to know what messiness to accept and what to plan out of your change - look no further than the Change Confidence Blueprint.

This is a tried and tested blueprint that helps you deliver change cheaper, faster and with fewer people. A set of tools and techniques to enable you and your team to embrace change with more confidence and crucially, more success.

Benefit from my experience and the experience and insight of 23 organisations across 15 industries - including Tech, Education, Sport, Motor, Finance, Retail, Building, Property, Manufacturing, Power, Travel, Law, Logistics, Local Authorities and Charities.

It’s flexible depending on your needs so can be delivered as:

• 121 Coaching
• Keynote speeches
• Masterclasses
• Programmes

Tell me more about Change Confidence