Mitigating Scapegoat Culture

Flashback to when I realized that ERP champions had quickly become the face of the software... and the root cause of all business shortcomings. Time to share what I’ve learned on mitigating the “scapegoat” culture.

I hadn’t heard of Epicor ERP before being appointed to facilitate the selection and procurement of a new ERP system for our manufacturing company in 2009. As directed, I did my due diligence by bringing in a short list of vendors for all Executives and Department Managers to run through their paces and reach a consensus on selecting the best fit for our company. I even had each stakeholder sign off on the Project Charter showing their approval of Epicor as “our” selected solution.

All was good, right? Well, it didn’t take long before it quickly became “Mark’s software” whenever a corporate goal was missed or somebody’s expectations came up short. Sales forecast missed (for the 4th consecutive year)? Too much obsolete inventory on hand (which had been laying around since the 70s)? Company truck broke down? No toilet paper in the bathroom? You guessed it . . . Mark’s software’s fault. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard an employee on the phone telling a customer or vendor that orders or payments were late because “we got a new software”.

While laughable now it was quite stressful at the time and reminded me of one parent blaming the other when “their” child was misbehaving. And while I’d like to say that what I encountered was an exception, I’ve learned it’s really not. I’ve seen this scenario played out repeatedly over the past 14 years.

As to the differences between when I have and haven't seen it, I’d say it all comes down to culture and identifying if/when it's capable of taking on such a challenge. Personal experience has shown me that companies with a strong leadership culture of holding people accountable for their actions and responsible for their outcomes tend to have a much higher ERP adoption rate across the enterprise, and they also tend to have less frustration among their users.

If a goal is missed, the first step is for the responsible person to take an honest look at the true root cause and not settle for the easiest out which is typically the new ERP software or latest change of any kind. (Like that new kid over in Accounting.)

I’m not saying ERP implementations don’t cause enough problems of their own, but having a scapegoat culture in place is certainly a major roadblock for a successful migration. So, how do you mitigate this risk?

If you’re the customer, you need to find an experienced ERP consultancy or implementation group that is going to spend time with your team during the discovery and sales process. Be wary if they want to do everything remote and are unwilling or unable to spend face-to-face time on the ground.

These are high dollar deals, so they should be willing to take on a little expense to make sure they get things right. Ask for references. Ask about their experiences dealing with not only technical issues, but also how they’ve handled various corporate cultures they’ve encountered. And, most importantly, don’t be insulted if they inform you that you may just not be ready for a major change like an ERP migration at this time. The good ones will be honest about any red flags and won’t rush into a burning house just to make money. Their reputation and livelihood is on the line, too.

And if you’re the consultancy or implementation group, you need to spend time (preferably onsite) with the prospect to get a true feel for their culture. Do your discovery and be honest about red flags and discuss them openly and honestly with the prospect. And if they’re not ready yet, don’t push them just to make a buck because that usually comes back and costs you way more than you gain.

I’m hoping you’ll find my personal experiences and pains helpful. After all, the ultimate goal at the end of the day is for everyone to proudly call it “our ERP software”.