It’s a packed stadium, the adrenalin is building, tension is high; a Mexican wave will suddenly take momentum throughout the crowd.  It doesn’t take great skills, nor does it require perfection, but what it does need is for the mass of bodies to participate. Amazingly, when the wave gets going, everyone plays their small but vital part to create something quite special. Even more surprising is that it isn’t rehearsed.

For change to be fully effective within an organisation, a Mexican wave effect is required. Everyone sitting in the stadium (the organisation) needs to stand and raise his or her arms (take action) and get the timing right. Those few that don’t participate, if the wave has real momentum, barely get noticed. And if people don’t work together then there is no wave at all, not even a ripple.

So how does a Mexican wave get started? If your mate, Bob, decided to stand up at the match on Saturday and raise his arms, would everyone follow? Not likely. A few sniggers perhaps, but overall it is likely to go unnoticed. What if there were a few Bobs to stand up, all over the stadium – bearing in mind that they would have to time it right, and have the same purpose in mind and they’d need friends prepared to follow them. The most difficult part in any Mexican wave, whether in a stadium or an organisation, is getting those first few individuals to make a stand. And lets face it; David Beckham (or the CEO) probably has a better chance of starting the wave than Bob.

So how do you know, when you are sitting on one side of Wembley stadium, if the people of the far side are even interested in your Mexican wave and if they know how to do it?  You have a couple of options. You can start the wave on your side, with your fellow team supporters and a few willing leaders happy to stand out in the crowd, and hope that the momentum will travel your wave around the vast stadium. It’s a bit risky though; it could all peter out mid way. Or you could enlist the help of the supporters on the other side. Explain to them what you are planning, why, and what you need them to do. What’s in it for them? They’ll probably have some questions, maybe even some suggestions. It will take longer to get started but your chances of success are higher.

For any change to replicate the impact of a Mexican wave, it needs the participation of all those in the organisation. They need to feel the adrenalin of the change, they need to stand up out of their seats, raise their arms and feel a bit uncomfortable at first, and they need to look around them and work together with their colleagues to make it effective. A few won’t get it right, some just won’t want to do it, but if the majority have it pretty right (it doesn’t have to be perfect), the wave gets going.

What is the role of the senior management? They start the wave and they create the tension (burning driver for change) and foster the adrenalin (the desire for change) within the organisation. And without the leaders (middle managers) there to encourage and support, the spectators will return to their seats.

So you have the leaders, the tension and the adrenalin – is that enough to start the wave? The spectators need to do more than stand up – the action required isn’t difficult but it needs to be done in the right way or there is no effect, or it could turn into a Mexican tsunami: a wave that is out of control and causes untold damage.

The spectators don’t need a complicated or difficult message. They just need to understand why the change is needed, what it means to them, and what they need to do. Once the momentum for change has taken firm footing within the stadium the rest will follow. Many, who were reluctant at the beginning, will join in because they can feel the momentum around them.

Is Project Management enough to deliver change? It can certainly help plan out the change, to understand what is required, who is needed and when, how long it will take, and how much - give or take a few million (Please excuse my reference to Wembley stadium again). But does that create momentum for change? Does that inspire people to get up out of their seats? Does it help those leaders who will stand out from the crowd and lead the way? This is the role of Change Management and where it can work together with Project Management to greatly improve long-term Change success rates.  Long-term success is about seeing real change, especially behavioural, quickly but remains embedded for the future.