Sunday, July 31, 2016

Roll Up Your Sleeves, Involve Yourself in the Medieval Chess Game of Change Management and Win!


Roll Up Your Sleeves, Involve Yourself in the 
Medieval Chess Game of Change Management and Win!
by Nick Ashton, CEO/CTO, CommSmart Global Group 

The game of chess, a strategy concerned with the evaluation of chess positions and with setting up of goals and long-term plans for the future play.

During the evaluation, players must take into account numerous factors such as the value of the pieces on the board, control of the center and centralization, the pawn structure, king safety, and the control of key squares or groups of squares (for example, diagonals, open files, and dark or light squares).

Duh!  Totally like a business should be run and operated

There are 318,979,564,000 possible ways to play the first four moves of chess. 

In addition to that, the American Foundation for Chess found that there are 169,518,829,100,544,000 x 10
¹² ways to play the first ten moves of a game of chess.   It seems the odds are stacked against you and board games are not for you.  

Wait!  They are!

In fact, once you are given a new skill-set, all is revealed and every move from now on will be defining for the future of all.  It is that simple, or should we state, once understood and practiced, it is.

The higher you rise in management into that senior leadership position, the perspective becomes entirely different.  As you go higher in the organization, the game board increases in complexity.

Being a frontline worker can be like playing tic-tac-toe or noughts and crosses. Becoming that department manager can be like playing on a conventional chessboard thats 8 squares wide, which to some, is intimidating enough.

If you become a vice president, the chessboard you play on is now, 16 squares wide. And if you become CEO, the chessboard is 32 squares wide and not always on one tier!

You become shaken by the vast complexity. You realize that certain moves that seemed obvious from your old vantage point are blocked by rooks and knights and even reprobate pawns.

You find that your brilliant game plan would infuriate key stakeholders or investors. In a moment of compassion and forgiveness, you begin to grasp why your predecessor, whom you used to make fun of behind his or her back, didnt manage to solve the problems that you inherited.  

Getting the picture, it is all too familiar.

Trying to buy time in delaying the checkmate, you begin to make smaller moves within in a smaller space.  Blinded by the enormity of the situation that is unfolding.

Calling strategy meetings are just stalling as you are too close to the situation.  It is akin to a drowning man or woman flapping their arms in desperation, filling their lungs faster with water and bringing the inevitable conclusion closer.

It is truly thinking outside of the box and knowing you have to admit, you need assistance.  Your original skill-set is out of focus and as a benchmark, is outdated.  It is a secondary skill-set from outside the scope of the daily common ideology and preconceived strategies.

Change Management, unlike a chess game, there is only one move required, not millions, which by the way in chess, is time-consuming.  In business, it delays the road recovery and even slams doors shut!  

Being in the midst of major cultural or marketing change in a large organization is a little like running through fields of molasses, the going is slow and sticky, with progress frustrating, messy and hard to measure.  But there are things you can do to improve your success odds.
 
When change management is approached from within, the resistance is massive, as it becomes a them and us scenario.  The conflict blinds the message with in-fighting on who knows more than each other.

Through our worldwide experience, understandings, and decisive abilities we offer leadership and a listening ear.  Shareholders can be assured that their best interest will be complied with. 

Change Management in the right hands is an art form and truly priceless!

CommSmart Global, with our European partner, Comme Ca, provides instant access to a senior, heavy-weight, hands-on management team, with a proven track record, matching your urgent needs. It is a fact, interim managers are hired to help organizations when undergoing major changes, implementing a critical strategy or system and/or looking to fill a temporary management gap.
  •  An organization may choose to pursue the interim management route because the role in question is not a permanent position or a permanent executive/manager cannot be found fast enough. Whatever the reason, interim managers offer major constructive benefits.
  • Our commitment - We are dedicated to finding the right interim solution that meets your needs and then work closely with you to ensure a successful delivery. If the assignment has a clear beginning and end situation, we provide an agreement that details the approved objectives, followed by periodically status updates to evaluate the success of the assignment.
  • Know how - We have a realistic understanding of senior management roles and long-term experience in the interim management industry and familiarity with the lifestyle of short-term assignments.
  •  Objectivity While sensitive and respective to the company's ethos, not constrained by company politics, personalities or protocols.
  • Focused When assigned a critical task, our performance is measured against it, not deviating from the original assignment.
  • Delivery If permitted, we can and will act as counsel to the Board and then we will roll up our sleeves and deliver what we were hired for.
  • Result drove - We become one with your company guarantying a rapid response to your requirements, fast solution design, and optimal management of the assignment.

Communications are imperative, a common goal is at stake, it takes leadership for all sides to win the game.


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