CHAPTER 6Making the Change: Implementation Advice

“If you want something you never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done.”

Thomas Jefferson

“People don't resist change. They resist being changed.”

Peter M. Senge

We are often asked why Beyond Budgeting adoption has been slower compared to many other popular management concepts out there. Take for instance Scrum, which we just looked at. As you will recall many, maybe most, IT organizations have now adopted Scrum although it has been around no longer than Beyond Budgeting. Lean is another hugely popular method that has entered new territory outside of manufacturing where it originally was developed. How come Beyond Budgeting is not yet there? I believe the answer is quite simple. You can't compare Beyond Budgeting with these and many other concepts for two reasons: granularity and scope.

Most of these concepts are high on granularity compared to Beyond Budgeting. They are very specific in how they should be implemented and operated. You can buy hundreds of books explaining in detail how to do Scrum or Lean, describing the concepts very explicitly. There are also thousands of consultants out there willing and sometimes able to help. A lot of training is being offered, sometimes with costly certification schemes attached. Six Sigma is a good example with its white, yellow, green, and black belt levels. Some of these concepts seem to be feeding an entire consulting industry.

Beyond Budgeting is no management ...

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