Have you ever encountered the concept of "insensitive change"?
Jul 25, 2024
While this term may not ring a bell, the underlying principles it represents are all too familiar in the world of transformation & change.
This term emerges when I witness change initiatives adhering to the "traditional" sequence—starting from a strategic directive, through business case development and budget allocation, and finally, receiving the green light for execution while missing out on some critical key components ...
These programs often leap forward without adequately Designing the change, failing to consider crucial elements such as:
• Cultural values, norms, and the potential decay of these element.
• Behavior design aimed at fostering constructive patterns.
• Capacity building to ensure that teams have the space, time, energy to go deep enough to create sustained impact.
• Mindset shifts that encourage embracing change rather than enduring it.
Though some programs may address these aspects in isolation, they are seldom integrated in a manner that is comprehensive, profound, or recognized as metrics of success.
The Impact on Culture
This newsletter delves into how insufficiently designed change and transformation programs can erode the very fabric of our organizational culture, causing it to fragment and weaken over time. Our focus today is on a critical aspect often overlooked: Capacity.
The Deadly Assumption
It begins with echoing complaints about capacity constraints—the capability of our teams to perform as they once did is now in jeopardy.
These capacity issues emerge when teams are unable to maintain their previous performance levels, fostering a dangerous assumption: if a team succeeded in the past, they surely can replicate their success.
This overlooks the dynamic nature of human beings; our needs, circumstances, collective mindset, and energy are always in flux. Using past successes as benchmarks for future performance may not only be inappropriate but misleading.
Planting the Seed for Toxicity
Persisting with "execution" without creating the necessary space to design thoughtful change programs that ensure proper adoption often becomes a breeding ground for toxicity. This unfolds as follows:
- High-performing individuals, or 'A players,' may develop resentment towards those unable to meet heightened demands, shouldering more responsibilities themselves. Over time, this resentment can lead to significant discontent and disengagement.
- Under pressure, teams might resort to cutting corners. Even when they know it's not the correct approach, the urgency forces decision-making without inclusive dialogue, further alienating team members.
- This environment discourages your 'B' and 'C' players, who see little reason to strive for improvement in a system that does not motivate or reward their growth.
What Gets Measured, Gets Done
A common pitfall in strategy execution is the reliance on measures of success that are either too long-term or too focused on absolute end-goals, ignoring the journey's quality.
Organizations often emphasize outputs over outcomes, with little regard for how change is adopted across the board.
The absence of lead measures and the lack of comprehensive short and medium-term metrics that could provide early indicators of success are significant gaps.
These measures should encompass customer impact, team dynamics, cultural health, leadership effectiveness, and organizational adaptability.
Real-World Success: Leading a Customer Experience Transformation
As Chief Transformation Officer at a global brand, I led a significant customer experience transformation that prioritized the human elements over rapid technological deployment. My strategy focused on 3 key shifts:
- Change Adoption as a Key Success Measure: Wellbeing and Capacity Building: Ensure teams wellbeing, understanding that a supported staff is crucial for delivering exceptional service. In addition, weaving those key design principles into every work we do Decision-Making Autonomy: Empowering teams with greater decision-making freedom to respond agilely to customer needs. Ensuring the right balance between autonomy and business risk.
- Refreshing Our Talent Pool: Hiring key positions from outside the industry to avoid stagnant industry norms and encourage innovative thinking.
- Starting with Culture and Capability Assessment: Prioritizing emotional culture and business capabilities before designing and deciding on our delivery components and approach.
These shifts led to dramatically improved customer satisfaction (which is something that globally is now used as an industry standard). Improved employee engagement scores, showcasing the efficacy of a human-centric approach in transforming customer experience.
This of course required
- Mastery of what an integrated and world class transformation looks like
- The ability to influence key C-level ad executive members to the art of what is possible and the cost of not addressing pain points
- The articulation of a structure and clear How-To that brings everyone on the same page and turn fear of the unknown to an excitement for collaboration and meaning
🚀 Event Alert: The Failures of Transformation
Join us for an enlightening lunch-and-learn session as we explore the often-overlooked side of transformation: failure. I will share key cases of transformation failures, revealing what went wrong and the valuable lessons learned.
📅 Date: Thursday, 25 July 2024
⏰ Time: 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM AEST
💻 Platform: Virtual Meet-Up
Hosted By: Andrew Blades and People of Transformation
✅ Why Attend?
🔍 Lessons Learned: Gain practical insights to navigate transformation effectively.
🗣️ Interactive Discussion: Engage with peers and industry professionals.
🎓 Expert Insights: I share from my extensive experience in transformation and change leadership.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from past failures and set your future transformations up for success.
⌛️Less than a week to go!
⭕️⭕️Register now 👇
Join us for a stimulating afternoon of discussion and learning!
#StrategyExecution #PeopleOfTransformation #Leadership #ChangeLeadership #MeetUp