Some years back, I looked on as the new MD of a major UK retailer got to his feet to present his vision of change for the company. In front of him sat over 100 senior managers ranged in rows on plastic chairs. When triumphantly he reached the last of his 30 or so PowerPoint slides, he turned to the audience expectantly and asked if there were any questions. After a pause of no more than two seconds in which no one raised their hand, he muttered all too audibly “What a tepid lot!”
This story comes back to me every time I see a similar ritual taking place. A ‘cascade meeting’ is held in which the much-cherished brainchild of a senior executive is entrusted to the care of a group of managers on the understanding that they will faithfully imbue their teams with
enthusiasm for the mission. Instead, a ‘management blackhole’ is born.
In astrophysics a blackhole is an object in space so immense that not even light can escape its gravitational pull. In the world of work, when managers are not truly engaged in a strategy by the executive team, they will in turn fail to engage their teams. The strategy is swallowed up by a ‘management blackhole’ never to be seen again. It’s just one of the many stumbling blocks that can undermine change.
Fortunately, for the assembled crowd at the UK retailer their beleaguered MD was soon replaced.
To learn how to eliminate the root causes of resistance to change see www.5forcesofchange.com
