Why do some changes fail and others succeed?

In this case, a lack of awareness in a gap between cultures. I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman from Saudi Arabia at a change management course. He worked for a Saudi telecommunications company - the 'AT&T' of Saudi Arabia if you will.

Over a steak dinner, overlooking the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the Saudi man with kind eyes tells me a story.   His company hired an American consulting firm to improve their call center processes. Among other things, the American consultants created a script for the call center support agents to use when answering incoming customer support calls. The end result... The Saudi telecommunications company paid the American consulting firm a lot of money and my new Saudi friend and his team had to rewrite the scripts created by the American consultants. Why? Because the American consultants never took the time to genuinely understand the cultural differences. The scripts the American consultants created started with "Hi. May I help you?" This greeting seems reasonable, right? I asked my dinner partner why that greeting was not acceptable for his call center support agents. Instead of saying "hello" or "good morning", he noted that people in his country greet each other by saying, "Peace be upon you."

This greeting is tied to their Muslim beliefs - a topic I won't attempt to address in this article. The intent is to simply show that understanding the substance of a culture is absolutely necessary when managing change. They key to ensure understanding is be knowledgeable about your own roots and to be vigilant in learning about others.