Organizational ADD
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WebMD describes ADD as follows. "This condition is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness." We might think a person has ADD if he or she has trouble completing things and constantly jumps from one thing to another.
That's for people. What about companies? Here's a brief description of the experience of one of my coaching clients.
He worked for a large company for seven years. In that time, the company had at least one management fad per year. They found their cheese, learned about some fish market, discovered their strengths, and tried to master the carrot principle. When they found that they couldn't balance their scorecards, they aspired to develop into Level 5 Leaders. They only got to level 1 before they moved on to something else.
Sound familiar? One reason that effective change doesn't happen in so many organizations is that they jump from one major initiative to another without ever completing anything. These outfits belong to the "Change of the Month Club."
When you're a member of that club, the people in your organization learn not to invest too much in any change you propose. They know that you'll have something new for them in a few months. When you're part of the "Change of the Month Club" the costs of switching from one initiative to another suck up resources and energy and attention without producing a productive result.
If you want an example of how to do it right, consider Jack Welch. He was arguably one of the most effective CEOs of the last century. In his twenty years as CEO of GE he had, depending on who's counting, four to six initiatives. He stayed with important changes long enough for them to embed themselves in GE's culture.
If you want create effective change you need to take the time to do it right. Pick one important issue to work on. Line up support. Make it a priority every day and give it time.
Boss's Bottom Line
One important, effective change every few years beats jumping from one new
initiative to another every few months.
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.




A lot of people criticize the Hammer and Champy book "Reengineering the Corporation" but one of the best ideas from the book that has stuck with me is you must make the business case for change. Any and every change effort should be linked to some strategic imperative that employees can see and understand. You have to address the "why" before the "how."
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Excellent point, Bret. If there's no good business reason, it's hard to imagine how a change could be "important" and then, as you note, you should make the case before you make the change.
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Powerful post Wally! As a talent management consultant I come across prospective Clients frequently that I can quickly tell belong to the "Change of the Month Club". Lasting organizational change is incredibly tough and consultants owe it to their profession to weed out potential Clients that aren't willing to make the difficult commitment it takes to see change initiatives achieve success.
I have included your post in my Rainmaker top five blog picks of the week to warn my readers of the potential harm that organizational ADD can have on their employees.
Be well!
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Thanks for the honor and your comments, Chris.
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