Balanced Scorecard Evolution: A Dynamic Approach to Strategy Execution

CHAPTER 9 Integrating Change Management Techniques to Drive Balanced Scorecard Success

IT'S NO SECRET THAT CHANGE is difficult for many of us. In fact, studies suggest the number of people who voluntarily disengage from addictive or obsessive-compulsive behavior, even when their very lives are on the line, is shockingly low, at around 1 in 10.¹ Embracing even simple changes that could make our lives easier or more convenient has also been consistently resisted throughout time. Take the case of the telephone. When first introduced, many people avoided it because they felt it was almost supernatural. At that time hearing voices when nobody was present was a defining characteristic of insanity, and few people fathomed how it was possible that electricity could convey a human voice. Such was the fear that the Providence Press said, “It is difficult to really resist the notion that the powers of darkness are not in league with it.”²

The challenge of change is amplified in the corporate world because we're dealing with the collective behavior of large groups of individuals, and any change efforts must take place while the company is actively operating, sort of like repairing a ship at sea. But adapt we must, should we hope to remain competitive in a world in which constant change and upheaval are the new status quo.

Throughout the book I've provided the latest tools and procedures to assist you in crafting a powerful strategy-execution system. The guidance has included a number of ...