Lessons from teaching my son to ride a bike

Do you remember when you learned how to ride a bike?  Do you remember when you first learned a new ERP system?

I recently taught my son to ride a bike at the age of 7 1/2.   He had no interest in learning how to ride a bike since he had the pull behind on my bike then used the third wheel on my bike then rarely used his own bike with training wheels.  He resisted all inquires to learn with comments like "it will be boring", "no fun", "too hard" and "why?".  Sounds like many questions you may have had when facing the implementation of your ERP system.

After the first attempt, a break, second attempt, tears and anger "I'm never going to get this" and another break, he started to get it.  After a day or two he was able to ride long distances on his own without me running behind to catch him if he started to fall.  Eventually we went on a family bike ride to the park and commented on how he liked riding a bike now and it wasn't as hard as he thought.  Again, maybe sounds like you during your ERP implementation (including the tears and anger).

We all have reasons for resisting change, resisting new software and procedures and while it may have been or seemed difficult, today we work with our systems with ease.  Don't forget the time, effort and practice necessary to make it look easy as you continue to evaluate other system changes in your company.  We are reminded every day that clients are learning to "ride a bike" every time we implement a new system or add functionality to their systems.  Rarely can you just jump on and ride.  It takes time, patience and practice to acheive the results we are looking for.