“The route to transformation is profound knowledge.” — W. Edwards Deming
Transformation is a hot topic these days. Mainly because technology brings change much faster and at a much greater scale than ever before. Which means business leaders must keep a sharp eye on dynamic customer demands and requirements as well as seen and unseen competitive forces.
Though similar, evolution and transformation are not the same thing. When an organization (organism) evolves, it builds on or adds to an existing entity, which could possibly include disruptive innovation. But it doesn’t necessarily undergo a dramatic change in form, appearance, or character.
This is why organizational transformation is so elusive. Because change of such a magnitude rarely if ever happens in and of itself. It requires an outside agent that serves as the catalyst for a complete and total renewing of the way people think about the business. It must come from outside the organization.
For example, Amazon established itself as an online retailer of most any product imaginable — from A to Z as the firm unabashedly advertises. But the online retailer’s foray into brick and mortar sales is a case of evolution, not transformation. Its core operating philosophy and principles remain intact, as does its business model.
Now consider the caterpillar. When it makes its metamorphosis from a fuzzy crawler to elegant butterfly — a transformation in both form and function — it literally consumes and eliminates nearly every aspect of its being, save a few very important elements called imaginal discs. These discs hold the vital information for growing wings, legs, eyes, and various other essential body parts that define the emerging butterfly.
So the first thing we learn about real and effectual transformation is that it takes commitment. There is no dipping a toe in the water or checking which way the wind is blowing for the caterpillar. It knows what it has to do to make the transformation — even going so far as ingesting itself.
A more suitable word for transformation is metanoia, the Koine Greek word meaning penitence, repentance, a reorientation of one’s way of life.
— W. Edwards Deming
Way back in 1989, ancient history for many of you reading this blog, Paul Allaire of Xerox assembled the top thinkers, analysts, marketers, and business experts available and set about performing an all-encompassing review of trends impacting the copier giant’s business. Allaire called the group Xerox 2000 and tasked it with imagining, exploring, and investigating assumptions concerning technology, global markets, client and customer behaviors, and competitive influences — both current and those for the foreseeable future.
Allaire told the Harvard Business Review in the September-October 1995 issue: “After studying position papers and meeting with experts in each of those areas, our senior team created a list of some 60 possible assumptions about the future. Then we voted on the ones that we deemed most likely to prove valid. Some of the assumptions were particularly thorny, such as whether paper would continue to be widely used in offices of whether digital technology would replace analog products altogether. The validated assumptions led us to a new set of imperatives — things we must do to succeed in the future — as well as to a new strategic direction, which we call the Document Company [emphasis added].
From that point, the focus of Xerox was transformed from a manufacturer and seller of business machines for duplicating paper documents, printing, or transmitting facsimiles into a forward thinking, innovative provider of tools that facilitate the sharing, storing, and managing of critical business information. Which made its entre into cloud technologies a natural, expected, and well received extension of services. A case where transformation set the stage for evolution.
USAA’s Robert Herres, featured in the same HBR article, proved prescient in recognizing the role of process and value engineering in developing and optimizing technology solutions. “We found that if you really want to exploit new technology — and for us that includes both communications and information systems — you have to analyze how the work in your organization actually gets done and decide which steps can be tailored to a machine and which are best left to people. To do that, you have to develop detailed process maps and get the whole organization thinking in process terms.”
Here are five things you can do to identify, implement, and facilitate successful transformation in your organization:
Recognition — acknowledge the current state is not adequate for achieving desired business outcomes. Realize transformation always begins with the individual. Develop and communicate the underlying need for transformation and provide rationale for individual team members to judge for themselves why a new of thinking is necessary. Set an example by demonstrating your willingness and commitment for reorienting the way the organization thinks and works.
Assessment — analyze the current state of the business and factors related to shortfalls, failures, or excellencies of the existing system. Define a vision for the future state. Outline the necessary steps required for moving from current to future state. Set forth data-driven reasons for undertaking the transition as well as the vision for a future state.
Listen — carefully and actively listen to team members, clients and/or customers, and the marketplace at large. Collaboration does not mean acquiescence. Remain steadfast in your commitment to transform, but draw on team member insights and ideas to fine-tune and elevate your vision. Develop a plan-of-action. Cultivate a culture of curiosity, creativity, and self-actualization, where team members understand and value their role in the process and thus, passionately commit to the change.
Learn — continually teach other people and submit oneself to lifelong learning. Develop short- and long-term training initiatives that challenge team members and equip them for seeing the transformation through to the desired outcome. Share learnings, results, and achievement of designated milestones with regular communications and allow team members to participate as a means of tribal story telling.
Yearn — do not allow yourself to fall into a state of contentment. What works today will not always work tomorrow. Develop means for short–, medium–, and long–term scenario planning. Believe “best efforts are not sufficient.” Best efforts without guiding principles lead to chaos. Adopt a mindset of continuous improvement. John F. Kennedy put it this way, “Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” Never settle.
Transformation is an agonizingly difficult and onerous process because most business leaders— especially entrepreneurs blindly in love with an idea or technology that launched a business — overestimate the value of what they have and underestimate the value of what they could have if only they had the same level of commitment to surviving and flourishing as the caterpillar.
About MindMeld: Our vision is that your business will grow, prosper, and make a positive and lasting impact on the world. We accomplish this by helping you discover and communicate the inherent value of your products and services and capitalize on that value in lasting, meaningful ways. To learn more please contact doug.knuth@mindmeldmarketing.com