Sometimes things don't go as planned; even our best laid plans can go awry. When that happens in business, some type of change is typically necessary to get things back on track. Sounds easy. But the unfortunate truth is that organizations are often resistant to change, so much so that in some cases positive changes are rendered ineffective by non-cooperative staff and/or management.

In these circumstances, sometimes it can be useful to bring in an outsider - a turnaround consultant - to effect the changes quickly and efficiently. Sometimes change implemented by "outsiders" leaves the "insiders" unscathed and in a better position to manage after the change is implemented. We'll call this type of change "Change by Force".

Most of the "reengineering", "right sizing" or its cousin "down sizing", "restructuring", and similar types of changes that have been implemented in the past by a turnaround consultant fall into the "Change by Force" category. Advantages are that it can be implemented quickly and the cost savings, which are typically at the core of such programs (in spite of their monikers), can be realized very quickly. The problem with this type of change is that it often leaves an organization and its people somewhat stunned and listless, wondering "what's next?".

There are some cases where the needed changes may be so pervasive that they require a high degree of "buy in" internally. In such situations, "Change by Force" will fail miserably. In these cases, change must "bubble up from the inside out". Orchestrating this type of change, "Change by Consensus", is a time-consuming and delicate process, but there are tried and true processes to achieve this type of change with true commitment and "buy in " from staff and management. Again, the process is arduous and must have the full support of top management, but it can be very effective if properly administered by a trained turnaround consultant, like those at The Wheatfield Group. We have even seen these techniques work effectively in unionized companies.