Measuring the Value and Efficacy of OCM

Measuring the Value and Efficacy of OCM

You don’t need a “big four” consultant to tell you what you already know_  lasting, positive change isn’t often successful.  There are naturally a lot of pricey, professional opinions about how to “beat the odds” too. How much are you willing to pay for someone else to describe water that’s drowning your team?

Wouldn’t you rather invest in a partner that will see you through to success?  Though change is not always easy, the ingredients for success are clear, and they can be easily measured.  Measuring OCM begins with the end in mind_  the customer’s final buying choice.  You obviously want to be “the chosen one;” that’s why OCM’s value centers on the customer and is measured accordingly.

Customer Centricity shouldn’t just drive only Design Thinking, but your OCM plan as well to keep up with (or ideally get ahead of) demand.  Good plans start with a needs assessment based on customer demand signals and strategic, business goals (in that order).  This means knowing where you are vs. where the customer wants you to go and how you can get there competitively.  Again, the true value of OCM rests in the hands of the customer, and if you lose, they buy elsewhere. 

OCM can certainly include proven strategies like John Kotter’s methodologies, Don Kirkpatrick’s Evaluation Levels, etc.  Once an approach is selected, project planning commences to include risk mitigation analysis.  An effective mitigation tool is Failure Mode Effects and Analysis (FMEA); just ask NASA, they invented it and used it to go to the moon.  FMEA planning safeguards project charters that your leadership can review, approve, and leverage for accountability.  Charters must have success and abort criteria devoid of subjectivity and tied directly to features that customers value.  Otherwise, why include them?  After all, you either win the customer’s business, or you lose.

Measurements take time though.  So, be sure to give the OCM plan time to yield reliable data.  Measuring effective change can take an average of 18 months. With Agile, you can naturally course correct as you iterate.  Are you ready to launch?

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