Comments on: Why Transformation Efforts Fail

By: Katarina Haddad

Katarina Haddad — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:28:39 +0000

I believe that the people that have commented on this blog might have misinterpreted the data…
The way I read it: thousands of transformation projects were assessed, and 70% of those projects failed. The percentage breakdown explained in the above graph are the REASONS that contributed or lead to the failure…. not at all meant to add up to 70%!

By: Katarina Haddad

Katarina Haddad — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:24:58 +0000

I believe people might have misread this blog – the way I read it is that thousands of transformation projects have been assessed in this research and the outcome is that 70% of those projects have failed. This said, the percentage breakdown explained in the above graph are the REASONS that contributed or lead to the failure… not meant to be add up to 70%!

By: Pete Abilla

Pete Abilla — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:27:53 +0000

In reply to Bob.

Yeah, that’s just an approximation – it’s 72%, but rounded to 70%.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:44:31 +0000

Ummmm… 33% + 39% = 70%?? A lot of transformations fail because people fail to check what they do.

By: Shaun Sayers

Shaun Sayers — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:34:36 +0000

Recently I’ve been hearing some arguments that suggest that change programs are sometimes too slow and deliberate. Clearly there is a balance to be struck between going too fast too soon, but the basic thrust of this argument was that the longer you take, the less relevant your original program is likely to be given the increased probability of changing circumstances

By: psabilla

psabilla — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:10:49 +0000

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for your input and for taking the time to share it.

I haven’t been critical of Mckinsey’s data, but it actually makes sense to me. Your point on Employee’s resisting change is very good – it’s actually more of a failure of getting the right buy-in and in selling to the broader constituency. I agree with you.

Deming would go as far as saying that everything is the fault of the Leadership team – perhaps he is right now even as he was right even back then.

By: Brian Buck

Brian Buck — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:10:18 +0000

I really like your point about “The informal ‘how things get done’ remain inconsistent with espoused values”.

I have seen many times when top management has espoused values they speak all of the time but they either turn a blind eye when when they see informal ways of doing stuff or worse never even go and see what is really happening.

By: Jamie Flinchbaugh

Jamie Flinchbaugh — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:01:48 +0000

I disagree with the data, not that it’s real data, but that they are not causes of the failure. They sound more like excuses to me.

Employees resist change…first, most employees crave change, deeply. What they resist is fear that the change will be worse or that it will make their lives more difficult. And this is a universal condition so it can’t be a reason that your change failed and someone else’s succeeded. Maybe you didn’t sell it well enough, maybe it sounded good on paper but failed in execution, but resistance wasn’t the cause.

Lack of resources isn’t a cause either, it’s a complaint. You have what you have. You failed to plan around the resources you have.

What is really see in the data is a failure to reflect.

Jamie Flinchbaugh
Jamieflinchbaugh.com