When I started my career, I thought “change management” was something Human Resources did when people got moved around and “asset management” was just about fixing things that broke. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
After decades of working across operations, leadership, and consulting in asset-intensive organisations , I’ve realised something… Organisational Change Management (OCM) and Asset Management (AM) are trying to achieve the same outcome!
The coordinated of activity to deliver and sustain value for an organisation
Asset management, according to ISO 55000, is “the coordinated activity of an organization to realise value from assets.” Pretty straightforward, right? But what makes that coordination possible? You can’t realise value from assets unless your people, systems, processes, and culture align and move in the same direction. And you can’t align that without managing change. Whether that’s rolling out a new system, shifting roles, adapting to new legislation/regulation, changing assets or rethinking how decisions are made. Change is constant, and if an organisation is smart, it will realise that change is also a continuum.
Every organisation on earth is already doing asset management and change management, whether they call it that or not. The trick is doing them deliberately and together. Most organisations position them as competing capabilities…
OCM defines the “how” of coordination by preparing people for change, managing resistance, aligning stakeholders, and embedding new working methods.
AM defines the “why” and “what” by setting asset management objectives, balancing cost, understanding risk, measuring performance, and aligning activities to strategy.
When you connect the two, magic happens. If you’re leading change without linking it to asset management objectives, you’re missing a simple connection within the organisation.
And if you’re doing asset management without thinking about the change required across your organisation, you’re are likely managing assets, and not doing asset management.
Asset Management vs the Management of Assets AND Change Management vs the Management of Change (it just makes sense!)
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with teams who’ve embraced both lenses, and it always leads to better outcomes. We stop talking about “projects” and “deliverables,” and start talking about value, alignment, and sustainability. That’s where real impact is felt.
So next time someone asks you whether your organisation does asset management or change management, try this: tell them they’re both trying to do the same thing, and when they work together, everyone wins.
Want to learn more about how Organisational Change Management and Asset Management work together? CLICK HERE
Martin Kerr, Author of “Organizational Change Management for Asset Management” CLICK HERE
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