3 R's of Leading in Next-Normal

Rethink, Reimagine, and Reinvent Organizations

With every passing moment, new sets of economic data are being released which suggest that economies across the globe have shrunk like never before. While there are gloom and doom around, I believe that history has lots to offer in this scenario. The building blocks of Next Normal may not be the same as the one used in previous instances, however, we can certainly draw lessons from thought process which allowed organizations in previous instances.

Opportunities often present themselves in the garb of the threat. It's for us to see them as a threat or an opportunity. There are a plethora of examples which is available out there, which suggests that most of the robust and successful organizations were founded during one or the other crisis.

Before I proceed further I would like you to read for yourself the stories of organizations which enacted next normal during previous crises.

You can read some of these examples by clicking the links given below:

Before I dwell upon what all these means for all of us, the work we engage in, and our organizations; it will be pertinent to understand what is happening at this point in time.

As the government after governments are allowing the opening up of the market places, organizations, public places, and other social places; There are many who believe that it will start coming back to normal. That's not going to happen. During these 6-9 months of varying levels of lockdown, each one of us and organizations which we represent has gone through conscious and unconscious changes in our behaviour towards technology, work, culture and leadership. This has created an energy around some irreversible changes in human behaviour, organizational behaviour, Consumption behaviour for a variety of products and services, mode of consumptions, Technology adoption, Organizational Design Elements, Decision-Making processes, Culture, and Leadership. This has already written a new future for us, our organizations, our society and our economies.

Recovery to an old Normal is impossible because this significant shift which has already taken place. Therefore it's important for all of us to make sense of all conscious and unconscious changes and create our response going forward. Going with the flow is not a choice. The choice to go back to old normal is not on the table.

The only choice which is in front of all of us is to Lead in this Next-Normal or be a laggard or die.

To define, thrive, and lead in Next Normal, Our organizations will have to Reimagine, Reinvent and Rethink 9 Elements.

The following needs to be Re-Imagined:

Basic assumptions which define the three elements of Organization, Work, and Economies are intertwined and will need to be reimagined to create the Successful 'Next-Normal' Focussing anyone alone may be disastrous as together they create fundamental building block under which business and society operate.

1. Basic assumptions of Organization

Organizations have been thought of as multiple metaphors. Some of the well-known metaphors which define organizations have been vividly captured in the book "Images Of Organization" written by Gareth Morgan”.

The various metaphors used to describe the organizations in this book are:

i)   Machine
ii)  Organism
iii) Brain and Hologram
iv)  Culture
v)   Political System
vi)  Psychic Prisons
vii) Flux and Transformation
viii)Instrument of Domination

Today when we have to reimagine, we will have to imagine it in two possible ways:

a) The network of Boundaryless Organisms and b) Boundaryless Neural network of connected Holograms

The important element here is Network and Boundaryless. Something which is in a network and boundaryless at the same time. In this scenario, some elements of organizations become emergent and ever-evolving. These emergent elements of organization will include: i) Hierarchy, ii) Decision Making Algorithms, iii) Delegations, iv) Leadership Levels, and v) What is internal to organization and what is External to an organization?

This will be like a flat and multidimensional universe at the same time. In this reimagined organization what will probably define continuity of the organization? This continuity will be provided by DNA of Culture, Value and Core Purpose. Everything else will be shapeless and emergent in this new re-imagined organization. Organizations which will programme themselves for this fluidity will grow and succeed in this Next Normal

2. Basic Assumptions of Work

The second element which requires to be re-imagined is the Work itself.

Work has undergone multiple changes during the known history of mankind. From being gatherer hunter individuals to farmers to guilds of multiple professions to Individuals chained in mass production, to individuals working at different layers of organizational bureaucratic hierarchy, to individuals creating flatter organizations and at the same time getting into protean and freelance careers, to the beginning of the gig work powered by the digital platforms.

Next Normal will break all notions of rigid reporting, place of work, rigidly defined roles, and Work within the boundary of one organization. We are going to witness the rise of DIGITAL GUILD by 2030.

We will be required to redefine all employer-employee relationships to meet the context of emerging Next Normal.

Work Processes and their value chain of input, process, and output will undergo significant changes as many products will transform themselves as personalized services. The power of platform-based organizations will blur these boundaries, and thereby significantly impact the nature of Work.

3. Basic Assumptions of Economy

We have seen changes over the years into economic models within which work and organization exists. From barter economies to economies controlled by kingdoms, to the emergence of various forms of markets defined and controlled by different forms of governments across the world to the emergence of Hyper Organizations powered by digital which breaks governmental boundaries, we have seen it all.

In the Next-Normal, Economies also have to be reimagined by business, social and governmental stakeholders. If they fail to do so, they will work as a hindrance in the path of success of their organizations. The dilemmas which will be presented in this alignment is the notion of success. Some economies might get the impression that they are doing well and will be supported by organizations that mostly want to retain the earlier normal.

The reimagining of Economies and allied enablers have to go hand in hand to support reimagined work and reimagined organizations.

The following needs to be Re-Invented:

1. Product and Service:

Is it a product? Is it a Service? Is it a mix of Product and Service? These questions will not remain very easy to answer. We will see the metamorphosis of product into services and services into products. Power of platforms which will bring organization, consumers, producers, service providers, and even social stakeholder on the same platforms. The digital platforms will enable this metamorphosis. This will make the same offering as a product to one segment while to others it will be offered as service and probably a few other segments which will receive the same as a mix of product and service. The power of personalization which is being provided by the digital will open a world of opportunities for this reinvention of products and services. It is in this reinvention where newer forms of job categories will emerge.

2. Consumption Models:

How do consumers will consume a product or service will be greatly impacted by the emergent changes in consumption pattern and blurring of the product-service boundary. While organizations will re-invent newer product, services and product-service mixes powered by digital platforms, there will be newer set of consumer behaviours will also emerge, which we may not be able to think of at this point of time. These un-imagined, unplanned changes will be tapped by nimble boundaryless organizations. In the Next-Normal, Organizations will be more closely knit in socio-economic structures. They will have to deploy real-time sensors to track changes in consumption patterns to invent new consumption models and associated products and services.

3. Organizational Eco-System

Pre-COVID Normal accepted the reality of an interconnected eco-system. Next Normal will go to a new level where Society will be integrated into the organizational eco-system. They will exert greater influence in defining products, services and consumption models. Organizations which will succeed in integrating society with their platforms will be successful. One which will continue to see political, social, economic, environmental and organizational systems as separate will lose out. Organizations such as Reliance, Facebook, Google, UBER, Airbnb, M&M etc. are recognizing the need to bring all on the same platform and create greater seamless engagement with the connected ecosystem. This will require lots of reinvention going forward to succeed in Next-Normal.

The following needs to be Re-Thought:

1. Leadership and Team:

Leadership in Next-Normal will have literally no connection with the hierarchy. In the boundaryless reimagined organization which node of the neural network will have to assume leadership will be unpredictable. Leadership at all level and Team architectures will have to made fungible and nimble at the same time. Teams have to create nimble and evolving structures. They have to morph in conjunction with changes in the eco-system.

Role of CEOs, and Leaders will undergo a sea change. They will have to play more a role of direction providers and sense makers. They can exist anywhere in the organization, at the bottom, in middle, at the boundary, at the top and at all places at the same time.

Organizations have to fast track putting the next generation of leaders in saddles of leadership roles.

2. Decision Making:

Along with rethinking Leadership and Team, Decision-making algorithms have to reciprocate. Empowerment has to be distributed across new forms of organizations and their boundaries. Bureaucratic rigid forms of SOPs are a passe. Emergent platform based SOPs which will create emergent SOPs to be exercised by emerging leadership and team structures. If this element isn't rethought, this can be a big spoiler in the Next-Normal.

Decision making has to seamlessly shift to emerging teams and leaders to enable timely organizational responses. If it remains tied to old ways of fixed ways of rigid adherence and approving authorities, this can be a difference between succeeding or failing.

3. Talent Pool Dynamics

Last but not least element is the talent pool dynamics which needs to be accounted for in this Next-Normal. Talent is no longer a unique function of qualification, degree, place, demography. In Next-Normal Talent will be part of professional guilds, Organizations that will play a role in integrating these guilds and gig platforms will have a huge competitive advantage. This pool will interchangeably play dual roles of your talent pool and consumer pool.

This rethinking will also change the way organizations will enable learning at all levels and how learning is distilled from multiple ecosystem partners and it's interfaces.