When organizations want to apply frameworks like ITIL or DevOps, they usually start by designing practices and processes from the top down: What needs to be done? Which roles are required?
But we rarely ask the most important question: How do we ensure that the people in the team can actually do this work?
And that’s exactly where things often go wrong. People are not job descriptions.
Yet as organizations, we automatically assume that people can and will simply adapt to the roles we design. We expect them to go along with every new structure, every new process, every reorganization of “the practice.” We design around roles and teams — not around the people who actually do the work.
Walk the gemba*
The result is predictable: we fail to tap into the potential of our professionals. We give them no time to grow, no clear goals to connect with, and no KPIs that are achievable, motivating, and fulfilling. We hardly ever tell them how their work contributes to customer value — missing the chance for positive feedback and pride. We don’t go to “the gemba,” but sit in meetings instead. We don’t see what really happens, and therefore we don’t know what’s possible — nor do we appreciate what’s going well.
In addition, we forget to listen. We don’t ask what teams need — we give them what we think the organization needs. We don’t involve them in designing the change, yet we still expect commitment and ownership.
And then we’re surprised when engagement doesn’t follow.
Failure
As long as we keep treating professionals as mere executors instead of valuable people, we will continue to fail.
That’s why so many implementations of ITIL, DevOps, and similar frameworks fail: they’re not built on systems thinking that sees people as an integral part of the system, nor are they focused on results that engage people. They concentrate on processes and tools, while real value is created by the people who work with them.
At its core, this holds true: you can manage perfectly well without tools, even without processes — but not without the professionals who do the work.
Key principles
- Don’t see people as a group, but as individuals — the art of leadership lies in bringing people together to form a successful team.
- Make practical decisions — choose not what must be done, but what can be done by the people you have.
“If you can’t staff your solution, you don’t have a solution.”
A decision that cannot be executed by your people is a wrong decision. - SWYRA – Start Where You Really Are – Start with real behavior and the current way the organization works — not with the ideal design. Change is not a decision, but a continuous process. Professionals need time to change — and leaders need even more.
It’s not about being right — it’s about being successful.
Not about having a perfect way of working, but a practical one.
Not about doing everything that’s asked, but about doing everything that’s achievable.
Build change from the bottom up, on the strength of your people. Provide direction with a clear vision — and give them the opportunity to grow.
IT service management is organizational change.
It’s a shared journey in which customer value is created by professionals, facilitated by leaders, and supported by processes and tools.
“Walk the gemba” comes from Japanese and means “go to the workplace — where value is created.” In Lean, it’s used to emphasize that leaders should be present on the work floor regularly.
Wim Hoving
Result-oriented connector of people and methods
Architect of the ISM method
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