Seven Change Lessons from the Real World
Peter de Jager is a provocative Speaker, Writer and Consultant. His primary focus is on how we manage change, technology and the future.
In addition to speaking at conferences worldwide, he also writes monthly columns for The Aba Bankers Journal, Voyageur Magazine, Galt Global Review, HR Gateway and Computerworld Canada.
His Computerworld column is republished on a regular basis in New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, Ireland, the USA, Hong Kong, Denmark, Finland and Mexico.,
His goal is always to question what we think is so, and in so doing perhaps open up new opportunities.
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There's no better laboratory in which to study the assimilation of Change than the world around us. Keep your eyes and ears open and you can see both marvelous success stories and dreadful failures. Go one step further and you can see the patterns inherent in both categories and then make educated guesses as to what does and doesn't work.
Frankly, the real world can offer more than the best MBA program when it comes to understanding how markets and organizations succeed and fail at implementing sizable change. We need only transform what we learn to the context of the organizations we work in.
One Change taking place in today's headlines is the implementation of RFID technology into the consumer market.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags are tiny passive electronic tags the size of the period at the end of this sentence. When scanned, they respond by sending out a radio signal to a distance of about 10 cm containing up to 128 bits of information.
The potential they offer is enormous. RFID tags make it possible to reduce the cost of taking inventory by a factor of 100. In addition, they offer a wide range of benefits in security, logistics, anti-counterfeiting and anti-theft devices, warning systems, sensors etc. etc. The list goes on as far as the imagination will take it.
Like all technologies, RFID also presents the specter of the double edged sword. RFID tags make it possible to track everything; from the tires on your car, to the magazines you buy and the money you buy them with; from the medicine in your pocket, to the clothes on your back. RFID gives the phrase "Tag! You're it!" a whole new meaning.
And... as you've just seen, writing about what might be possible is just so much fun. To use a phrase prevalent in the current news media, it's all too easy to 'sex up' the story on RFID. RFIDs and their potential usage stir the imagination.
Here's the challenge faced by the RFID industry. How do they promote...
The Responsible Proliferation of a Technology Beneficial to Society in General?
When it is so easy to paint this technology with a totally different brush?
RFIDs will erase the last hope for privacy when everything and everyone is traceable!
For those of you who have not been watching the RFID saga unfold in the journals, here's some of what has been happening.
First... the RFID manufacturers and users have those little gold dollar signs in their eyes. Here's a telling quote from an industry leader: "There are going to be trillions of tags like these in all kinds of consumer products, and they'll tell us exactly where those products are in the supply chain at all times." said Larry Kellam, Dir. of Worldwide Supply Chain innovation.
There's no denying the reason for Mr. Kellam's unabashed enthusiasm. Tagging every consumer product would bring untold logistical benefits, but in a world where privacy, or rather the lack of it, is a growing concern, this master plan of world domination is going to encounter some resistance.
How does one even attempt to bring about this type of global change? What are the DOs and DON'Ts, and can
therefore provide clues to other smaller, organizational changes?
1 - You cannot ignore the context which surrounds your product. Or... Why is privacy NOT foremost in the RFID discussion from the corporate side?
Every RFID press release and every interview, focuses on the technological abilities of the technologies and does not at the same time address the inevitable privacy and security concerns. This leaves the reporter with an open field in which to turn the story into a more readable 'angle'... Privacy is a huge concern, no one needs to point that out, and yet the RFID manufacturers chose to ignore this aspect until the media gained full control of the tone of the discussion. The media currently OWNS the debate.
Learning Transformation: You cannot ignore the context in which you're trying to operate.
2 - The industry should communicate both the benefits and disadvantages of this type of technology...
The Kellam quote above is an example of how NOT to do it... One cannot read his statement without immediately thinking of the consequences... RFIDs fire the imagination; they encourage speculation, and feed both reasonable and unreasonable privacy fears.
RFID announcements must be made with this context in mind, they must address these concerns head on from the start, to do otherwise allows these speculations to grow and become as contagious, and just as impervious to reason, as urban legends.
For example: We all know that the EURO will likely be tagged in the coming years. Yet I have not yet seen (maybe I missed it) any official response to the concerns of privacy relating to tagged money. In the absence of such a response, it is far too easy for privacy groups and the media (including myself!), to speculate on how such a cash identification scheme could be abused.
To date, there is a dearth of RFID industry response to the privacy issues. I have not seen a single reasonable corporate response to the issue of privacy. Where is the article which describes how the tag will be killed -- just as the Security ink tag was removed -- as the customer leaves the cash register, or the store??? Where is the personal RFID tag scanner and killer that any consumer can purchase for $9.99? Where is the personal signal disrupter operating off a single AAA battery? These do not constitute the total solution, but they are part of the solution.
Learning Transformation: Ignoring the negative aspects of the Change will not make them go away. If anything, pretending they don't exist allows them to gather strength.
3 - Why do we insist on ignoring the fact that the concerns raised by the privacy pundits are legitimate?
Here's a fact -- one I've learned during those 2,000 media interviews I endured -- if a person (a reporter in some cases) believes that 'X' is true, then sidestepping the issue does not make it go away. Nor does it serve any useful purpose to tell them that 'X' isn't true. Even trying to convince them that 'X' isn't true won't always work. Sometimes the only thing to do is accept that this is what they believe and respond accordingly.
Learning Transformation: When implementing any Change, respect and respond to all objections to the Change.
4 - Where should we acquiesce and pull back from RFID projects, and how can we leverage those actions?
Here's a statement of belief. There are some uses of RFID which will fail because of consumer backlash. The fault of the failure will not lie with the consumer, but with the company who insisted, against the court of public opinion, on using RFID in that manner.
Here's an industry study worthy of some expenditure - where are the areas in which RFID will face impenetrable obstacles? Identify those obstacles, and then using them as examples of how the RFID industry is being responsible, would enable the acceptance of RFID in other areas. Both the Benetton and Wal-Mart failures could have been success stories if they had been handled correctly. Instead they are opportunities all but lost.
Learning Transformation: There are Changes which the target audience will not embrace... when do we accept that and pull back from implementing a Change doomed to fail?
5 - The media ain't the enemy... they merely write to be read.
Security News 27/06/2003- Scott Granneman - RFID Chips Are Here
Bar codes are usually scanned at the store, but not after purchase. But RFID transponders are, in many cases, forever part of the product, and designed to respond when they receive a signal. Imagine everything you own is "numbered, identified, catalogued, and tracked." Anonymity and privacy? Gone in a hailstorm of invisible communication, betrayed by your very property.
Damn... but that's mighty fine copy! Whoever coined the phrase "If it bleeds, it leads" knew what they were talking about.
The media wants a good story, and they don't have to reach too far when it comes to RFID, to tap into our fears. Countering that tendency will require a concentrated effort for accurate and honest data. RFID raises legitimate concerns... address those concerns head on so we can use RFID in other legitimate and equally beneficial areas.
Learning Transformation: In any Change project, there will be an obvious attack against the Change, how will your implementation plan prepare for that attack in advance.
6 - The consumer isn't totally against RFID.
Ironically, RFID is not totally rejected by the consumer. My pets are tagged; I have fast tags for two gas stations. Why are those encountering little resistance and other things encountering tall walls? How can the difference between these situations be exploited? Leveraged?
Learning Transformation: Properly presented, most Changes are not always seen as a threat by everyone. Finding the right approach is the responsibility of the Change Inflictor.
7 - Where's the RFID Information Center for the consumer?
A single point of contact for consumers worldwide to learn more about RFIDs, goes a long way to communicating the correct information. By consolidating all the sources, an article posting inaccurate data can be countered by anyone with an opposing article.
A central site cuts the middleman out of the picture by giving everyone an equal voice. Will the conspiracy theorist get to post an opinion? Yes! And, it will be possible to counter false assertions. Will a corporate entity get to publish hype or 'lies'? Also Yes... and the industry response will keep them in line.
Learning Transformation: The open flow of information during a Change project is key to a successful implementation.
Here's a key Change lesson. The ONLY way to overcome this type of resistance is with information, involvement and innovation.
The privacy issue was obvious from the beginning. We've consciously and deliberately ignored it... and in so doing we've made the implementation of the Change more difficult. Sound familiar to anyone?
© 2005,
Peter de Jager – Peter is passionate about change, how it affects both
individuals and organizations and allows them to grow and prosper. To contact him, and
host internal seminars on Change Management visit www.technobility.com
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