The timesheet of a co-worker was forgotten at the printer sometime yesterday. Which, naturally, makes it fair game for checking out what's going on in the other niches at the office. I have no idea what the "Change Mgmt" line-item was about, and am not entirely sure that I want to. Thankfully, it isn't an actual billing code or (twitch, shudder) incorporated into someone's job title. I say "thankfully" because if you truly want to make a dent in the status quo, more often than not stealth and anonymity (rather than publicity and a spokesperson) are your best bet. Otherwise, change must start at the very top--with consistent message and tireless execution. Or it must be generated--with equally resolute execution--from the grass roots. But when it's delegated--or, on the flip side, awarded as a badge--to middle management? Pffffffftttt: Game Over.
In physics, the trajectory of an object is usually calculated from the center of gravity, and organizations are--in my experience, anyway--quite similar in that the center of gravity is located in the "middle." That's not to cast aspersions on middle management, mind you: Those are the traits for which the Darwinism of the promotion process typically selects. The folks who are paid to deliver product (however that's defined) on schedule and under budget have next to no incentive for intelligent risk-taking. (Understand, too, that the so-called "mavericks" are gambling with the company purse purely for their own profit. Never, ever forget that the potential downside for the company is so much worse than it is for them. Particularly in a day & age when flying an entire company--dare I allege industry?--into a cliff qualifies the miscreants for six- and seven-figure bonuses on the taxpayer dime.)
So when we talk about resistance to change in terms of "inertia," I'm no longer positive that this is the right Newtonian metaphor. Rather, I think that the distance between who's trying to change trajectory and the organization's center of gravity should be factored in even more heavily. Because understanding the impact of that distance is the difference between driving change and merely being along for the ride.
