What makes change complex and how to reduce it

It's a commonly used term, 'complexity'. In most organisations, it's how the stakeholders will describe the change or their organisation. Now I am not going to dismiss that off hand but let's go through what will make a change complex, and keeping in mind that we should define complexity as high risk. The more complex the higher risk there is that the change just won't stick!

Here are some scenarios where the change may be complex and more importantly what to do to reduce the complexity:

1. There are multiple streams of work taking place which haven't been aligned or streamlined into a cohesive story. The aspect that creates complexity here is a lack of understanding about the program itself. This generates confusion which for many is a safe place to land when they feel overwhelmed. If you want to reduce the complexity, unpack the streams to understand the relationship and dependencies so then it can be 'rebuilt' into a cohesive program. 

2. Geographic distance: The concept that people speak about when mentioning 'tyranny of distance' is very true and real when looking to change something in an organisation which may span a number of different geographies. Why? Well every area/region will have it's own response and requirements, as every area will have it's own sub-culture. This is normal however does mean that the change approach required is one which would be 'freedom within a framework', or 'centrally driven with local ownership'. Only with these approaches will the implementation be successful and complexity reduced.

3. Variations required for what is being delivered: when considering systems logic and a push for a one size fits all, there are definitely change programs which require tailoring and there is no way around it. When this happens, it brings in an added level of complexity, where it gets harder to create a common story and to make sure benefits are clear at a local level. Notice how I mentioned that some programs require tailoring - it is often necessary to really challenge this to as there is a LOT of inclination from stakeholders to tailor solutions, many of which compromise the ability to get cost efficiencies through scale. 

4. Changing organisational structures and service offerings while introducing large scale changes: It's like delivering change in quicksand. It makes everything more complicated and hard to handle, after all when you are briefing in leaders, fostering a sense of ownership and then they keep changing - well, that makes it all a little more difficult. 

5. You don't have the right people working on it: This is another contributor to complexity. Without the right people in the critical roles for the change, you are increasing the complexity unnecessarily. Whether it be a program lead who is struggling, a subject matter expert who doesn't support or understand the vision. If not addressed or dealt with early in the program, complexity will increase.

Regardless of complexity though, it is all about how you respond

Complexity is one thing, ensuring your change plan is adequately responding to it is another thing entirely. Change plans can minimise the risk that the change is a failure. The more complex the change the more you want to stress test the plan to make sure that it is thorough enough in addressing the complexity. So be sure to stress test your change strategies and plans to make sure these areas of complexity are adequately covered.