Change management
A prominent consultant, with an MBA from Harvard, was standing on the pier of a small coastal village when a small fishing boat docked. Inside the boat were several large yellow fin tuna a lone fisherman had caught. The consultant complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The fisherman replied, "Only a little while."
The consultant asked, "Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?"
"It's enough to support my family. I’m happy."
The consultant asked, "What do you do with the rest of your time?"
"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children and take siesta with my wife, Maria. Every evening I stroll into the village, sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full and busy life, sir."
The consultant scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. You could catch more fish and buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to the city, where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The fisherman fisherman asked, "But, sir, how long will this all take?"
"15 to 20 years."
"But what then, sir?"
The consultant laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would launch an IPO and sell your company's stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."
"Millions, sir? Then what?"
The consultant said, "Then you could retire and move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, and every evening stroll to the village where you could sip wine and play guitar with your friends."
Change management is a structured approach to shifting/transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. It is an organizational process aimed at helping employees to accept and embrace changes in their current business environment.
P.S. This entry is dedicated to this weekly theme, Change, under The Writers' Post