From Training to Transformation: Leveraging Behavioural Strategy
Jennifer Quaglietta, ICD.D, P.Eng., MBA
CEO & Registrar | Board Director | Regulatory Excellence | Corporate Strategy | WXN Top 100 Most Powerful Women | Harvard Business School
As an organization, we've embarked on a transformative journey that has significantly reshaped our operations. Whether navigating our digitization project, embracing lean methodologies, promoting cultural remodeling, or advancing our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) efforts, we've undergone numerous trainings and adapted to new workflows. Yet, I often find myself pondering: Have we truly internalized and applied these learnings to implement lasting change?
?
While training equips us with knowledge, the true catalyst for transformation lies in its application. Take, for instance, our unconscious bias training from last year. We learned to recognize and confront biases that cloud our judgment, striving for a culture of inclusion. However, training alone cannot suffice. To embed these learnings into our DNA, we must translate them into action and continually evaluate their effectiveness. “Accountability” to learn and change is a choice and a decision that not only management takes but also every person in the organization.
?
As I was thinking about our progression and decision-making process, I revisited an old favourite paper by Dan Lovallo and Olivier Sibony titled “The Case for Behavioral Strategy,” penned in 2010 for McKinsey Quarterly. The article discusses how traditional strategic approaches fail in the face of cognitive biases that influence our decision-making capabilities, subconsciously. Picture below depicts a summary from the key baises discussed in the article.
These biases, left unchecked, can delay effective decision-making, and hinder organizational progress. The article further presents how traditional strategic planning assumes rational decision-making, ignoring these psychological factors affecting our human judgment and hence recommends diagnosing them, mitigating their effects, and adapting to an approach based on real-time experimentation and data collection.
领英推荐
?
To conclude, training alone doesn’t help us learn and get on with a change because as humans we receive and process information differently. I am glad to see that most methods recommended here for identifying and rectifying these biases within an organization, such as analyzing past decisions, conducting surveys, and fostering a culture of critical thinking are being implemented in my organization.
?
I hope you found this reflection insightful; I would love to know your thoughts on it.
?
Jennifer Q
Principal at Sean Mallen Communications
6 个月Very thoughtful observations, Jennifer. Thanks for sharing
Entrepreneur & Corporate Director/Corporate governance champion/Catalyst for change/Community builder/2x WXN Top 100 Most Powerful Women/The SustainabilityX? Magazine’s inaugural Global 50 Women In Sustainability Awards
6 个月Thank you Jennifer Quaglietta, ICD.D, P.Eng., MBA -congrats on your first Linked In article-look forward to more to come. Thanks for sharing your transformative journey-it is one thing to learn but it is how you integrate the learning into actions and continuous improvement.
Passionate Leader l Capital Planning and Delivery I Board of Directors I Water and Wastewater Engineer I PEO Brantford Chapter Chair
6 个月I believe that efective change/transformation takes time and is only possible with careful implementation driven by need and accelerated by emotional intelligence.
BIM Consultant & Strategist | Professional Civil Engineer | iTwin Developer | Podcast Host "What is your digital integration ROI?"
6 个月Thank you so much for sharing. I enjoyed reading your first article. I concur with your insight that while training is essential, the transformation happens only when?the actions are implemented. Here is a reflection that came to mind. At the start, we have to consciously choose the new proper action, but with multiple iterations, those actions become like second nature. Deep down, I think the journey of transformation is a change in values that we unconsciously hold. In a sense, the goal of the training is to bring to consciousness the unconscious bias misaligned with our values; then from that knowledge, we can determine proper actions we need to take consciously; with time, those conscious actions become ingrained, thus transforming the makeup of our bias. Briefly, I would say the unconscious will remain a part of reality and our role is to ensure it is aligned with the values we want to uphold.