Ian Duncan, Senior Managing Director and Transformation Leader at FTI Consulting, along with his colleagues Ken McAndrew and Leslie Benson wrote an influential paper called "Why Transformations Fail? Time to Re-examine Conventional Wisdom".
Ian shares the lessons he learned when he led transformation programs, the frameworks he used, and how the team at FTI Consulting detects 'people road blocks' when a transformation program is not moving in the right direction.
Show Notes
Note: Based on the title of this podcast, if you want to directly listen to Ian Duncan's take on 'Why Transformations fail?' and a meta-framework he uses to approach transformation program management, head over to this timestamp [
00:26 —
00:51].
If you prefer to understand the nuances involved in large-scale transformation programs, it's best to listen to the whole episode.
Episode Summary
- Why do people resist change in large restructuring or transformation programs? Joining FTI Consulting and what keeps Ian energized, having a personal connection with customers, who inspired him the most, and his take on servant leaders. [00:00 — 11:00]
- Some people resist change because they don't see where they belong in the outcome of that change process. [00:00]
- Your job is to, is to actually look at the detractors and understand why are they behaving the way they're behaving? [00:42]
- Who is Ian Duncan and what’s the significance of his work at FTI Consulting? [01:17]
- Which verticals does Ian have the most experience in and who inspires him? [05:22]
- Servant leaders and how they guard their time. [10:22]
- Where does the buck stop in a transformation program, which ability serves the CEOs the most; why people become protection-driven; how charismatic CEO overcome that challenge in their workforce and ‘Net-Promotor’ view to detect and circumvent people who become roadblocks in a digital transformation program. [11:59 — 20:44]
- Where does the buck stop in a transformation program? [11:59]
- How to spot detractors (what FTI calls people roadblocks) in a transformation or restructuring program? [15:32]
- Managing vendors and the key to keeping a transformation program on track [17:33]
- What does Ian notice about construction industry projects? [19:13]
- ‘Commitment-based’ framework to manage large-scale transformation programs that have billion-dollar+ in budgets. [20:44]
- Why transformation programs fail, the untold truth about large-scale programs; FTI Consulting’s Resilience Barometer Report. [00:26 — 00:51]
- Why transformation programs fail, engagement with PMI (Project Management Institute) in developing an industry-agnostic Citizen Development Canvas, and Digital Office in the construction industry. [26:00]
- Untold truths about large-scale transformation programs, the importance of acknowledging mistakes, and avoiding window dressing of failed programs, what’s Ian most interested in learning about? 34:00
- Resilience Barometer report by FTI Consulting, the importance of the report for people responsible for driving change in large organizations, and what’s the Buddy program at FTI Consulting? 42:00
- Sign-off 00:51
List of Resources Discussed in the Podcast
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