How One Big Company Overcame Resistance To Bring About Major Transformational Change
When Barry Libenson arrived at Experian as Global CIO in 2015, he devoted his first few months to speaking with customers. Everywhere he went he heard the same thing: they wanted access to real-time data. On the surface, it was a straightforward business transformation, but Libenson knew that it was far more complicated than that
To switch from batch processed credit reports to real-time access would require a technology transformation — from an on-premise to a cloud architecture — and in order to develop cloud applications effectively, he would have to initiate a skills-based transformation — from waterfall to agile development.”
So what at first appeared to be a straightforward initiative was actually three separate transformations stacked on top of one another. To make things even more difficult, people had good reason to be hostile to each aspect. Still, by being strategic about overcoming resistance from the start, he achieved a full transformation in less than three years.
Understanding Cognitive Biases
One of the key concerns about Libenson’s program at Experian was that the company would lose control over its business model. The firm had prospered selling processed credit reports. Giving customers…
