The OxyMorons - S1E5 - Why do organizations resist governance innovation?
In this episode of The OxyMorons, I chatted with two interesting speakers from the upcoming MER Conference, scheduled for May 24-27. If you’re not familiar with MER, the MER Conference was founded in 1992 by industry icon, author, and consultant Robert (Bob) Williams – also the founder of Cohasset Associates. In 2017 the conference transitioned to the independent leadership of Seth Williams and Mike Salvarezza who continue to modernize and expand the event.
[Note: In the spirit of truth in advertising, I recently began developing custom content for MER under the MerlinTM label; you can get more information HERE.]
Rafael Moscatel is the managing director of Compliance and Privacy Partners. This is a consultancy based in Los Angeles, and they do work around privacy, compliance, GDPR, and the California and Canadian consumer privacy acts. Rafael and his wife Abby are the co-authors of Tomorrow’s Jobs Today -- Wisdom And Career Advice From Thought Leaders In AI, Big Data, Blockchain, The Internet Of Things, Privacy, And More. It’s a great read.
Rob Bogue is an Organizational Development Consultant, SharePoint Shepherd, and Microsoft MVP. Rob help clients make the complicated simple, whether the complicated includes Microsoft SharePoint, technologies, or no technology at all -- his focus is on helping organizations become more effective. Rob is the author of Six Keys to Confident Change Management, another great read, and the creator of an online course on Confident Change Management.
1 - Why do organizations resist governance innovation? What sorts of obstacles do they put in their own way?
Rafael: It's really a fear of the unknown. Governance change especially brings its own trepidation because it just feels so serious and so permanent. Think about all the groups that are involved in this area or with whom you're going to have to partner -- legal, compliance, and risk groups, just to name a few. These are all really serious folks, for the most part. It’s a special kind of unknown.
Rob: We hear the stories, we hear the vision, everybody's been promised a kind of governance Emerald City — or at least some sort of Wizard consultant. But we don't know to get there, we don’t know who we will find when we get there, and we don’t even know if we’ll run into a field of poppies along the way. Many organizations just freeze in the face of this uncertainty and do nothing. Given all of the perspectives involved in governance, ultimately you need to have a conversation about perspectives and values, and those are never easy conversations. Without these conversations, resistance sets in. I think that resistance gets a bad rap. Resistance means different perspectives, and that’s an opportunity to learn. Where are their fears? What are they scared by? What don't they understand? What don't they trust? How do they view the world? What’s important to them?
2 - When introducing innovative governance technology, what's the biggest mistake organizations make?
Rafael: One of the biggest failures in larger initiatives is not laying the right kind of groundwork. We see these incredible technologies, which are getting more intelligent by the day, and in almost in every case we skip over building the executive support necessary for success. I see a lot of rushing towards the solution before we've really socialized conceptually what we're trying to do. Having early conversations and doing them methodically is critical.
Rob: We have all these beautiful project plans to introduce some magical technology. We then immediately descend into detail -- things like technical project management tasks and milestones -- and we forget to do the proper nurturing of the people who are going to be involved in executing all of this. this process. And so, we do all this really hard work, we build great technology, and then it falls apart. Because the people don't want to do it and the people don't want to go make these changes; we've not trained anybody on how to do good change management.
3 - What kind of role does an OxyMoron play in this environment?
Rafael: One of the key skills possessed by OxyMorons is cognitive flexibility, the ability to keep two ideas in your head at the same time and the ability to pivot when necessary. If you're seen as a naysayer, you're not going to last too long. The second thing that we learned is that in an era of growing complexity, less is more in terms of how much time you ask of your business partners. If you are to be a successful OxyMoron and change agent, communications need to be simplified. Lastly, OxyMorons are successful because of the relationships they build. And this is going to be more difficult than ever, because in the new hybrid world, we’re half-Cyborg, half-real people.
Rob: I think one of the key skills an OxyMoron has is the capacity to see that the emperor has no clothes. When you can do that, you can save yourself and your organization a whole bunch of time and a whole bunch of confusion. OxyMorons understand what is real, and what is not real.
4 - What is one specific piece of advice you would have for organizations that are contemplating a significant governance initiative?
Raphael: Don’t overestimate your audience. Now I am NOT saying talk down to them. But don't assume that they're as familiar with privacy and governance concerns as you are. Help them connect with these topics on a personal level and make them feel like they're part of the solution.
Rob: If we say that change is ultimately 85% about people (vs. process or technology), are you spending 85% of your time thinking about how you're going to motivate people? How much time are you spending to get people engaged and get them to do the behaviors that you really want? Organizational change is truly all about personal change. And if you think you know how to motivate people, then you've never had teenagers.
Past Episodes in the Series: