Who Did You Vote For?

No, I’m not talking about that election, although the end result is the same regardless of what type of “vote” we’re talking about. People get angry and start tossing blame for anything that happens. Possibly the same level of manipulation involved, as well, but I’m talking about which ERP system you voted for when your company selected a new platform.

Regardless of whether you got your way or not, whether you even got a vote, or the votes were rigged, stop whining and deal with it. It is very rare that everyone in an organization will agree on a particular solution, ever. There are biases across functional areas, biases across executive teams, personal biases around existing platforms and biases against making any sort of change at all.

This is what we deal with on a daily basis when helping organizations through a technology transformation and is a key task with organizational change management efforts. Gathering opinions, evaluating and discussing options is critical, but once the ship is heading in a particular direction it’s time to get on board. Everyone needs to grab a paddle and help row, otherwise nobody is going anywhere.

Here are a few steps to help with this:

1. Let go of your ego: Human nature drives us to believe that we are always right. Whether or not we are, we still may not always get our way. You may not think you are getting one of the top ERP systems, but that’s okay.
2. Look for the bigger picture: Often we are focusing on our individual job or department when complaining about a change that we didn’t ask for. Sometimes we need to look a little further upstream or downstream to see the effects across the greater organization.
3. Think about those who are not as lucky: Yes, there are people who are struggling to eat, but there are also companies who are still using physical filing cabinets and dot matrix printers. There are – I’ve met several who are quite content doing business that way. Be happy that your company has invested in new technology, regardless if you got your first choice or not. If you are still printing on dot matrix and running month end on a calculator, be happy that you have food on the table.

Think where a country would be if everyone stopped complaining after an election and helped in any way they could. Sometimes things don’t go as we had hoped or expected, but the positive momentum of a team of people coming together for a greater good can negate almost any bad decision.