Change Inertia

Delta Management Team - Shinoj

It was those days when I was working as a technical marketing engineer. I used to go around major EPCs and introduce Intergraphs products like PDS, INTools, SmartPlant etc. I still remember when I made a presentation in one of the leading EPCs. The product was INTools and SPPID these are database softwares which would make engineering design easy and can be real time shared on citrix. First question I get after presentation is 'why this software? currently we manage it by spreadsheet and autocad.' These were engineers who were used to excel sheets , autocad etc. and couldn't see the bigger picture. May be my inexperience or bad luck I was unable to convince them of advantages.

A year passed and I received a call from my boss to go again to the same EPCs and introduce the same softwares to a group of engineers. The EPC design team didn't realise the world around them was fast changing; they were looking to buy these softwares because their clients insisted on modern day tools and databases which could be shared real-time. This particular incident proves the changes that a company has to make due to external developments or competition.

In brief, an organization needs to be responsive to advances in the technological environment; its employees' work skills must evolve as technology evolves. Organizations that refuse to adapt eventually lose out and will be left behind. If an organization wants to survive and prosper, its managers must continually innovate and adapt to new technology.

 Delta Management Team - Shinoj

            I was reading HBR (Harvard Business Review, 1999) on Change. The second paper 'Building Your Company's Vision' by James C. Collins et al. writes about core values of an organisation. '.... core values that remain fixed while... strategies and practices endlessly adapt to a changing world'. 

           Interestingly the company I work with ,PSN (www.psnworld.com), has seven core values and our CEO Bob Keiller is very passionate about these core values. It is amazing to note that almost every employee in PSN is aware of the core values and its importance. Last month PSN merged with Woodgroup and new company , WoodGroupPSN, came to effect on 21st April, 2011. As Bob is the new CEO of WoodGrooupPSN, he has incorporated the core values into the new company. Also,, the logo of new company carries seven colour bands each representing the core values. It would be interesting to note how these core values are communicated to previous WoodGroup employees and how successful will the company be in doing that. 

" A small set of timeless guiding principles, core values require no external justification; they have intrinsic value and importance to those inside the organisation". (HBR, 1999,James C. Collins et al.)