What does the PMI know about organizational change management?

I have noticed for a long time that IT and the PMI think about only one thing when "change management" is brought up - change control and change advisory boards. There seems to be little understanding of the need to jointly consider technical and social issues when addressing project management. Contrary to what seems to be their current belief, implementation success is about more than the mechanics taught by the PMI; it must also consider how to engage employees from the beginning so that they come to see any initiative as their own, and not simply something to be done because they are told.

The Standish Group, an organization that tracks IT implementations globally, has clearly stated that a significant contributor to IS/IT/IM project failures is overlooking the need to jointly address employee adoption and resistance. These are issues that are always explicitly handled by effective organizational change management (OCM), yet many project teams do not include such a resource or focus. In fact, so many organizations, when forming their project teams, make the mistaken assumption that OCM will be handled by project managers (PMs) and/or business analysts (BAs). But these people have far too many other responsibilities for which they are held accountable to devote the necessary time and energy to do an effective job at OCM. And all due respect to their capabilities, they cannot possibly have sufficient knowledge of and experience with OCM as do those of us who have dealt with it consistently throughout our careers. Moreover, the PMI, in its Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), does not deal with OCM in a substantive way, if at all. The assumption seems to be that if all technical and management details are attended to, implementation will be successful. And nothing could be further from the truth!

Some organizations seem to have at least an introductory appreciation of the importance of OCM in any implementation. They say that someone on their project teams must be certified in Prosci's ADKAR (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement). This is an OK first step, but to assume that a three-day certification provides one with sufficient tools and experience to effectively deal with project change management is dangerous. And to say that the project resource MUST be Prosci-certified is outrageous. It is a slap in the face to the vast number of change and OD consultants who have a career's worth of knowledge and experience about change management and change leadership.

IT and the PMI must widen their thinking to acknowledge the existence and importance of OCM in project success. Too many organizations persist in a more than 40 year old belief that technology trumps everything.