“You simply must make people believe you can and will complete what you have started, even if this has not been true in the past.”
In this post I’d like to review exactly how some of our clients have successfully grown program credibility. My aim is to provide some concrete examples you can apply toward future projects.
Bury the Past
People are shockingly quick to tell us how their organizations have failed in the past:
“Has anyone told you about Project Forward? It’s called ‘Project Forever’ for a reason, you know.”
Even worse, it’s dismaying how often past failures are considered relevant to your future efforts.
“We’ve tried and failed to do this so many times in the past, why should this project be different?”
It’s imperative to accept the inevitable, unfavorable comparisons with past efforts. This requires admission you’ve failed, consideration why prior projects failed, and a credible demonstration of why things are different this time.
One practical suggestion is to address right up front why your next project is different from past efforts. But give good reasons—failure to really differentiate ensures your current initiative is lumped with past disasters. And be bold: call out the elephant in the room before it squashes support for your next project.
Leaders to the Front, Please
I don’t think you can underestimate the extent to which people expect, even demand executive attention and commitment to top projects.
“We all know this isn’t Tom’s top priority, why should it be mine?”
The imperative here is to trump talk with action. Everyone knows which projects receive resources and which subsist on lip service.
Executive commitment is measured by the answers to two questions that test a sponsor’s mettle:
* Will you use your political capital to help us when other leaders and managers are putting up roadblocks?
* Will you use your political capital to help us when other leaders and managers are putting up roadblocks?
* Will you ensure we have the resources we need, including the specific people we need?
Every organization should slim their program list down so it includes only those programs the organization and its leaders will adequately and consistently resource and support.
And all talk about top priorities must be consistently backed by political muscle and capable resources throughout the project lifecycle (however ugly it may be).
WHO Matters Most
The final determinant of program credibility is the most powerful but the most difficult to influence.
Program credibility—the fundamental belief we can and will complete a program—results when the majority believes the people they work with and the people (or person) they work for also believe the program is credible.
The challenge here is indirect. You cannot tell people to believe you can succeed. You have to repeatedly make the case and help people across the organization believe.
I think this is where most change management programs fail. You know the story, the program checks all the boxes on the change management checklist yet falls flat on its face. Why? Because the program failed miserably at the grass-roots level! Despite the balloons, banners, pronouncements, and events people at all levels continue to doubt this program is different from every past failure. Or they observe that the program really isn’t a top priority because Joe, the boss’ pet hot shot, was detailed to a competing program. They’re never given a reason to believe we can succeed so they doubt we can.
To end
