RECAP The 6 Part Mini-Series PLOT- The Story of the Exodus or freedom of Hebrews from Egypt is told in a perspective which highlights Moses’ efforts to persuade first the stubborn Pharaoh Merneptah, who was his adopted cousin, to release his workforce of slaves. Then, once free and in the wilderness en route to the Promised Land, Moses must prove to be a pious and patient leader or lawgiver to a people who still think they want more out of him or God. For 40 years, Moses (Burt Lancaster) must carry on this load and challenge for God and Israel.
With his brother Aaron (Anthony Quayle) and Joshua (Aharon Ipale), Israel’s nation of people is officially born or created centuries ago. God promised and vowed to Jacob/Israel that he would be the father of a mighty nation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_the_Lawgiver
Now, I am sure you are wondering how this all connects to an ERP implementation. Those of us leading ERP implementations, regardless of the application you choose, can relate as there is a mix of fulfillment and disappointment while on the journey to Go-Live. Being able to overcome disappointment and frustration is all about the mindset. Your project will encounter obstacles, nuances, betrayal, and loss. I know it sounds deep, but it is a reality, and we need to expect it. In life, we all expect things not to go as planned or to have challenges. We need to apply this to our work lives since we are all humans, and we cannot expect perfection.
Don’t Give Up. Moses led his people from slavery to freedom. I am not sure he knew what he was getting into when he took the job. Everyone complained along the way that freedom was too demanding, too unpredictable, and basically, they did not like it. He led them into the wilderness, and they complained that the food was bland. What kept him from giving up amid all the criticisms and complaining? Moses always remembered whom he worked for, and his motives were not for gratitude or recognition. He did it because he knew that this task was more important than what he wanted. God gave him his marching orders to get them out of Egypt, teach them how to live their lives, i.e., the ten commandments, and guide them to the promised land. I know on some projects I have led, the visual of the Promise Land has kept me going, and other times, I was ready to give up. The ten commandments didn’t go over very well at first. People got impatient, they built their idol to worship, and 3000 men were slain as punishment. I know it’s never that heavy in the ERP implementation but, I have seen people get distracted and try to build their own idols along the way. It never turns out good for anyone in those situations. Lots of money, time, and energy wasted along that path.
Impatience is when we have a goal and realize it’s going to cost us more than we thought. Sometimes, people (employees, coworkers, clients, vendors) get impatient or think the project methodology will not work for them because they are different, unique, or feel their way will work better. More often, I see that people grow impatient with their understanding of new processes or terminologies. Growth is different for every person and the amount of interaction they had in the old system and their effort to engage in the new one. While in Moses’s story, the consequences were gruesome. In an ERP implementation, you could experience employees quitting, strategic sabotage, bleeding money, time delays, or the worst of all, poor work quality. Any of these things cause rework to your project. More important is the mental damage it does to the team. Renewing your mind to push through failures takes more courage and effort than functional work.
Resilience is worth more than its weight in gold. What this experience did for Moses was after experiencing failure and frustration over and over, he built up his resilience- this allows you to recover and keep going in the face of so much adversity. A very wise and admired mentor once told me that sometimes you must let people fail for them to reach their full potential. It was not the leadership advice I was looking for at the time. Later, I understood the value of failure. So, what can we do as leaders? First, we need to set high standards for people, but at the same time, as leaders, we MUST be prepared to see people fall short. This is when our team will need us the most. Not to point fingers or disparage their efforts. We will need to lift them up and keep them moving forward. Why? Because we are human beings first and we should expect that there will be failure and disappointment. There will be people on our projects that are unreliable, who will not appreciate all your efforts; knowing this allows us to accept our teams with grace and forgiveness when we need it the most.
Leaders do not always get rewards. Moses was barred from entering the promised land, and when he spent all his efforts to get them there, God prevented him from the closure and celebration of completing his task. His role in the journey was complete, and it was time for him to hand it off to the leader of the people, Joshua, to finish the job. Moses did not throw a fit because he knew it was bigger than him. On ERP implementations, we get invested in the project. Sometimes these can be long-term, spanning multiple phases or years. Ultimately, they consume our daily lives, but we need to remember that these projects are more significant than just one person. They affect an entire organization, sometimes thousands of people. No matter what system, functionality, or service you are implementing, tell yourself every day that the work you are doing is for the people’s benefit and not for your glory as a leader. They are the ones who will use the system and do the daily work for your business or the organization. Sheppard them as best you can. No project is beyond disappointment, so be prepared to face it. You will not always have the answers or maybe even get to decide which path to take. Be a good loser because it will build resilience, and remember that winning always costs you something.
I often think about Moses and how he felt standing on the mountain top surveying the promised land before he died and was buried in an unmarked grave. As a leader, I hope he was proud that he got to play a vital role in his mission’s success.
I hope you found this article entertaining and can apply some of what you read here to your own implementation or next project. My movie-themed blog series is focused on implementing ERP projects with a strategic focus on the plans, people, change, and technology needed to succeed.
