Every AS/400, iSeries, "System i" IT shop has some sort of change-management system. And it's often more a burden than a help. Why? Because of a number of change management myths that we hold near and dear.

Written by David Shirey

The single most unheeded dictum, which seems to come from every successful entrepreneur-turned-billionaire, is to not be afraid of making mistakes. In fact, many people proudly declare that mistakes are the only way you make progress, and they attribute much of their success to their ability to make mistakes. Interestingly enough, this never seems to have worked out for me, but they're the rich ones, so they must know.

But ours is a world of caution, and it's one company in 10,000 that truly does not consider mistakes a cardinal sin. Careers are shipwrecked on mistakes. In many companies, management never remembers your victories, only the goofs.

Because of this deeply ingrained mindset, change control has evolved from the coder's helper to the coder's nightmare, and more than one company has set up change-control systems that double or triple the time it takes to get something "to market" without really providing any additional safety.

Here are just a few of the change-management myths we have embraced that have helped it grow from a tool to a prison.

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