One of the things we are good at in Ireland is funerals.\u00a0Whether a death is \u2018a blessed relief\u2019 or desperately sad and unexpected, we bury people well.\u00a0Funerals are held within a few days of death.\u00a0The deceased will be \u2018waked\u2019, on view in their Sunday best, with visitors bringing food, washing up and offering support.\u00a0Tea will be drunk, and stories will be told.\u00a0The funeral service will be personal and meaningful.\u00a0We are good at giving people a decent send-off.<\/p>\n
And a decent send-off helps those left behind to move on.\u00a0Organisationally, this is important when we need people to embrace new ways, new structures, new colleagues.\u00a0Resistance to change is a clear sign that people have not been able to let go of the past.\u00a0Not because it was better \u2013 they are remaining loyal because it hasn\u2019t been given a decent send-off.\u00a0So, we get silent resentment, \u201cthat won\u2019t work\u201d and mutterings about \u201cthe geniuses in management\u201d.<\/p>\n
What does a decent organisational send-off look like?\u00a0Well, it doesn\u2019t look like banning the name of the newly acquired company or pretending it never existed.\u00a0It doesn\u2019t look like an overnight make-over with all traces of the old gone forever.\u00a0It doesn\u2019t look like decks of slides pointing out the errors of previous ways and the logic of the new.\u00a0All of that just causes attachment to the past.<\/p>\n