Why your “transformation” or “agile” (or whatever) change may be failing …

We got another call from a company wanting “agile transformation” …

The problem? They are focused on “agile” as techniques that promise to produce big results. They haven’t considered the radical implications of the underlying principles … a cause of many transformation and “agile” failures.

Here is a great observation from Perry Marshall:

“Businesses are failing today because they are ignoring principles and trying to replace them with techniques.

… It’s very important to recognize the difference between a principle and a technique. A technique is a “trick” that you use to get something done, something that works in a very specific situation. A principle, however, is something that’s universally true, something that transcends any particular company or circumstance.

…  There have never been more people skimming the surface of life and living on [techniques] “crack cocaine” than there are right now.”

Perry is referring to the ongoing massive changes in marketing and advertising … for example, what techniques worked on Google yesterday have changed today. Keeping up with the changes is important, but it is more important to know the underlying principles of marketing and advertising to win long-term.

The principle about techniques vs. principles, though, applies to every business.

New techniques feel great momentarily because of the illusion of real change … “we’re doing something different!” … and the momentary success. Things fall apart when a different situation is encountered, and the techniques don’t work quite like they did before … if at all. It takes knowledge of the underlying principles to adapt techniques for a new environment or pick more suitable techniques.

Things also fall apart if work techniques change but the underlying principles behind policies, procedures, etc. do not … the principles will win out in the end. And the “change” will fail because the foundation did not change.

Real change … sustainable change … only occurs when there is change in the techniques AND the underlying principles, and the techniques and principles align.

What have you been focusing on lately?