Change is EvilTis Better to Die Personal Organizational

Change is Evil…’Tis Better to Die! Personal & Organizational Impediments to Change EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional Conference 2010 Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 1: 30 p. m. - 2: 30 p. m. Victor Ponelis, Change Manager, Do. IT, UW-Madison

What is Do. IT? Division of Information Technology • http: //www. doit. wisc. edu/ • Provides centralized IT services to UWMadison and a more limited set of services to UW System • 700 permanent, limited-term and student staff • One of several IT service providers

Who is Victor Ponelis? (i. e. , who am I to cover this topic? ) • Change Manager (with a Configuration Management sub-focus), 2007 -Present • Systems Engineer, 2003 -2007 • Systems Administrator, 1997 -2002 • IT Certifications – ITIL Foundations – HP Service Desk 4. 5 Administration – Novell CNE 4/5/6

In the beginning… …there was The Mainframe. And it was Good. • Centralized • Technology-centric – Incident – Change – Release

But then…Distributed Computing is Born.

Distributed Computing=Disbursed Computing (Disbursed Computing and Processes)

History: Pre-ITIL 21 st Century Network Operational Framework Help Desk Clarify KB Change Mgmt Asset Mgmt Change Mgmt 1998 1999 Systems Op. Cntrl Ctr Year 2000 2001 2002 2003

History: ITIL Arrives Coordinated Incident Handling RFP – Incident/Change Mgmt AHA!! RFP Presentation Help Desk SEO Reorg/Process Coordinator Change Mgmt i. NFRA Rollout / ITIL Training Systems Op. Cntrl Ctr HP Service Desk Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ITIL – Pulling It Together ITIL

ITIL – Pulling It Together ITIL

Steps Along the Way • Post-Incident Reviews • Service Desk Service Team/Config and Change Management Team • Operational Framework • Embrace of ITIL foundation training • Choosing our own pieces of framework

ITIL Successes • • Emergence of common vocabulary Post-Incident Review process Service Catalog development process Technology-centric Service-centric

ITIL = Change • ALL Change is initiated by someone having an intention or taking initiative to improve something… – Therefore…LEADERSHIP IS CRITICAL • Leadership MUST mold change into a coherent vision, message and incentive for others to embrace

But…People Resist Change • Change: may be THE one human activity that produces the most adversity in organizations • Change is a “necessary condition of survival”, and embodies the differences of individuals in an organization • Change is FEARED • Impediments can be summed up in 1 word - CONFLICT

Impediment to Change=CONFLICT • These Impediments, or Conflicts, are – Personal – Organizational

Personal Impediments • Emotional Reaction to Change • Relationships or Interactions – Poor communications • Failure to impart information effectively about Change produces impediments to Change – Inter-group rivalries – Power struggles

Emotional Reaction to Change • • • Stress Anger Fear Indifference Frustration

Relationships or Interactions • Constant search for improvement through Change results in – Conflict between individuals in terms of approach – Willingness to Change – Relationship between individuals and groups • Studies show leaders find relationships or interactions the biggest obstacles to Change

Organizational Impediments • Politics or “Games” – Resistance to Authority – Counter Resistance – Building Power Bases – Defeating Rivals – Changing the Organization

Organizational Impediments, Cont’d • Conflict Avoidance – Defensive routines – By-Pass mechanisms – Informal, “underground” practices inconsistent with published strategy • Result? Formal and Informal operations develop communication obstacles that give people the feeling of powerlessness to change

Do. IT’s Impediments • “IT-itis” – Staff hyper-competent at IT…not so great at inter-personal relationships • Aligning Different Work Approaches – Systems Engineers: CI-naming is asset-based – Network Engineers: CI-naming is role-based • Different Work Tools – Service Desk-Change/CMDB; EMC Ionix-Incident – Wiki vs. KB vs. JIRA vs. Email

Do. IT’s Impediments, cont’d • REACTIONS? – Emotional Reactions – Politics or Conflict Avoidance

Overcoming Impediments • QUESTION: What is the difference between something being an impediment or enabler of Change? • ANSWER: Intervention by Management to avoid allowing competition from becoming an unhealthy or counterproductive conflict

Overcoming Impediments, cont’d • Non-orthodox approaches – “Unmanagement” – non-hierarchical, nonbureacratic leadership – all employees have authority and are accountable – “Management by Adultery” – all employees are adults who can accept responsibilities – Skillful, charismatic, communicative leaders who empower people at all levels are vital to the success of non-orthodox approaches

Overcoming Impediments, cont’d • Orthodox approaches – Baldridge, Nat’l Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST); 6 Sigma, LEAN, etc. – Organizational focus on Senior Leadership processes Customer/market knowledge Strategy & governance Work system design, process improvement & information management • Performance analysis • •

Key Leadership Traits • LISTENING & COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS – Understand & Sympathize – Coach & Mentor • When effective: followers less likely to blame change agent for being unconcerned or incompetent • When inspirational: leaders communicate information and convey individual worth

Leadership’s “Message” • “KISS”: Keep It Simple (or look) Stupid • Clear goals, clear actions • Clear simple message: provides information on what needs to be done and why • Employees react to clear, simple messages by feeling informed, “esteemed” and are more likely to support Change.

Leadership’s “Effort” • Build Effort (and “Message”) around – Understanding of culture – Understanding of environment – People of the organization – Need to change

Clear Message & Effort Can Make ITIL “Work”

“My Work” OUR WORK, via ITIL

Change is Difficult…But Rewarding!

Questions? • Victor Ponelis – victor@doit. wisc. edu • References – “ITIL Bubbles to the Surface: Best Practices Arising from the Trenches, ” Mid. West Edu. Cause 2009, Lepak, Lawver & Ponelis – “Overcoming Impediments to Change, ” http: //succeedtolead. com/, 2007, Joseph Boutte – Observations from @ Do. IT

ITIL Core