Disruption, crocodiles, and the law of unintended consequences

Ok, you don’t need me to tell you that we are living in a time of immense uncertainty…the phrase ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’ is fitting when it comes to the transition we have all been through in recent months.

Spring 2022: emerging from two years of a global pandemic into a time that should have been a period of financial and societal recovery, a cultural renaissance even - only to find ourselves with war in Europe, a global cost of living crisis, the threats of food security challenges and climate change looming large in the background, and – unsurprisingly, rates of mental health problems increasing globally.

For any organisation or business these unprecedented circumstances present risk on multiple levels, and as the director of _VOIS, Vodafone’s global shared services (GBS) organisation operating across 6 locations and with more than 26,000 employees, these are all top of mind right now.

Firstly, and most obviously, for any business there is the threat to financial stability of both people and organisations.?With inflation and low interest rates, there is little reason and even ability to keep cash, so we are feeling less insulated from risks when they hit us, and more exposed to external forces.

Secondly, as a part of Vodafone, _VOIS is evolving to a TechComms service partner – but we are first and foremost a people business. When our people are anxious, uncertain, low or fearful, their focus and their output is bound to suffer, it’s human nature. The people and the business performance are inextricably linked.

And there’s a third risk that stems from all of this external pressure and threat. Because when we (as businesses, or as people) feel exposed or vulnerable, what do we do? We are taken right back to the instincts of our ancestors, and the famous fight or flight response kicks in.

For a business, this can either manifest itself in taking bigger risks that can lead to unintended losses, or strategies that focus solely on protectionism.?

If the metaphorical crocodile is approaching, we invest all our energy in protecting ourselves from it – whatever it takes to survive.?We don’t see the opportunity next to the crocodile.?

Crocodiles lead us to The Law of Unintended Consequences – and how it applies so well to risk management.?In Australia the authorities sought to protect endangered saltwater crocodiles ‘salties’ through protecting them by law.?All well and good on the surface – we’re protecting against the loss of something.?However, that narrow focus on a single risk missed a wider opportunity; as Australia has since seen an overpopulation of the Saltwater crocodiles who have now spilled over into areas inhabited by humans (eg urban swimming pools!) and also, unfortunately, started migrating up-river and reducing the number of ‘freshies’ – freshwater crocodiles, as they compete for food and safe nesting spaces.

As threats like the ‘salties’ example pile up around us, I’m wondering about the vast amounts of organisational energy we’re now diverting and investing in our own financial and psychological protection, our insulation to what’s going on around us. Because when we’re living in continuous survival mode, and our natural instinct is to go inwards, shore up against the perceived enemy - what energy is left for creativity, for innovation and breaking down boundaries?

So the instinct that is hard-wired in us to help us survive is simultaneously hampering our ability to grow and become more resilient. Our relentless focus on business continuity and security is clearly a necessity in today’s world – and the Covid crisis highlighted the importance of these teams in leading businesses through the unchartered waters safely and securely. This is one area where I believe having a culturally aligned, shared services partner has proven to be extremely valuable.

But where else in addition should our energies be channeled?

The story of how Microsoft changed its culture – which helped it transform into the tech giant success story it is today – is a great example of how a simple shift of focus can have huge impact.

When Satya Nadella took over as CEO in 2014, he knew that in order to safeguard the company’s future, he needed to set an entirely new tone and revamp its culture to make space for innovation and allow new initiatives to grow and succeed. He believed that central to this would be building empathy—a skill and mindset not previously associated with Microsoft.?

As well as heralding a swathe of changes, Nadella promoted a culture of curiosity and learning. He urged the company’s 120,000+ employees to embrace a “learn-it-all” curiosity, in contrast to what he categorized as Microsoft’s traditional “know-it-all” worldview.

Amongst many strategic changes there’s one small one that stands out for me: Nadella built into every employee’s KPIs a measure to help someone else achieve something. I love how completely counter to the expectations of standard dog-eat-dog business culture this is and gives an insight into how Nadella has flipped Microsoft’s culture on its head.?

For me, hard wiring these shifts into a business is critical in helping achieve these changes.?Cultivating a ‘growth’ and ‘infinite’ mindset is an impossibility in today’s world unless you specifically make a space for it in your life and your organisation.

In 2021 we created The Edge in _VOIS, a team dedicated to disruption and experimentation.

A few examples of the team’s current projects include exploring new ways to use technology to make our business more sustainable, experimenting with gamification in our recruitment process, and developing a Meta-verse to support our employee engagement and talent attraction.

And when it comes to culture, our Vodafone Spirit behaviours are four focus areas that we introduced across the Group in 2019, and which now inform our decisions and our everyday actions. We use the behaviours to help measure employee sentiment and engagement, as well as to drive business outcomes.

In _VOIS we structure our employee experience around our 100% Human approach, and we are committed to giving our people the space to be themselves, and permission be creative and bold in their thinking. Our recent People Check-in for all of our _VOIS employees was an opportunity for us to come together to listen to inspiring speakers, pause, take stock and for everyone to give their feedback on what we can do differently. We were also treated to some musical performances by talented _VOIS employees!

It strikes me that getting the balance right between resilience and innovation in today’s world is perhaps where Shared Services teams can play an important and differentiated role for the organisations they work with – finding ways to improve ways of working, reduce risk and supporting them to make space for more creativity, innovation and partnership.

As 2022 rolls on and we enter a ‘decade of disruption’, the temptation builds to batten down the metaphorical hatches and this is completely understandable. However, it’s also clear how much we all need to utilise disruption, our collective spirit and creative engagement to get the balance right as we strive to not just survive, but thrive both professionally and personally in these challenging times.