Enterprise Initiatives

This blog focuses on Enterprise IT topics such as Enterprise Architecture, Portfolio Management, Change Management, Business Process Management, and recaps various technology events and news.


EA, SOA, and change  

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Whether you are implementing an Enterprise Architecture, SOA, or in my case, both, dealing with change is by far the hardest part of the project. I just happen to be taking a graduate level leadership class right now (timing is everything!) and we are studying different change theories. The one that I like the most is Kotter's 8 steps for transformation.

  1. Establish a Sense of Urgency
  2. Form a Powerful Guiding Coalition
  3. Create a Vision
  4. Communicate the Vision
  5. Empower Others to Act on the Vision
  6. Plan for and Create Short-Term Wins
  7. Consolidate Improvements and Produce Still More Change
  8. Institutionalize New Approaches
If you take these steps and apply it to EA or SOA, you can get a list of steps like this:

  1. Build strong business case
  2. Secure executive sponsor and top level buy in
  3. Create a Road Map
  4. Communicate the Road Map
  5. Empower Others to Act on the Road Map
  6. Start small, deliver early and often (agile)
  7. Expand, leverage reuse
  8. Govern
Most articles that I have read discuss two critical elements: the technology and governance. Not enough people are talking about change management. I would like to invite my fellow EA bloggers and industry experts to write a blog post (or two) on how to effectively promote change throughout the organization.

2 comments

  1. Rick Maurer  
    March 18, 2008 at 2:49 PM

    I agree with you that too little attention is paid to change management and that Kotter has developed a fine model for looking at change. I’d like you to consider my approach as a complement to his fine work. I find that change falls into four stages (and one of those stages is avoidable). Making a Compelling Case for Change, Getting Started on the Right Foot, Keeping Change Alive, and Getting Back on Track.

    I think you can see how the first three stages can be looked at through Kotter’s steps. Getting Back on Track has to do with resistance to change. All manner of things can occur that can disrupt an otherwise sound change. I find that leaders do best when they anticipate the possibility that things might derail. This does two things: 1. they are prepared if a crisis occurs, and 2. fewer crises occur because they’ve thought about those possibilities early and taken action to make sure the train stays on the tracks.

    My website has many free articles, tips, and tools that address these four stage. I invite you to take a look.

    Rick Maurer
    www.beyondresistance.com

  2. Mike Kavis  
    March 18, 2008 at 9:16 PM

    Thanks Rick. I'll check it out over the next few days.

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