Implementing Blockchain Technology

Blockchain is a game-changer. Blockchain technology disrupts current business processes across all industrial sectors. It creates a linked chain of trusted, transparent and forever permanent (immutable) record of transactional decisions in super-fast real time yet allowing multiple verified parties to access the information, process them and add further transactions. Blockchains use a decentralised mode of digital distributed ledger technology (DLT) to deploy irreplicable and non-replicable codes to assure security and privacy even as all activities are transparent and cannot be historically or retroactively changed. Traditional trust, hitherto using human intermediaries and institutions, is replaced by embedded trust built into the blockchain itself. This core “trustlessness” character of trusty blockchains unlocks new opportunities to create innovative business models.

The critical success factor in blockchain adoption is leadership, not technology. The blockchain decision is primarily a strategic move, not a technology upgrade decision. The blockchain decision is a strategic leadership decision, best driven by Blue Leadership.

The core mission of Blue Leaders is to deal with strategy amidst change and to build adaptive change-responsive organisations. The basic purpose of any effective strategy is to empower an organisation to create its own future, instead of just letting it happen. In blockchain adoption and implementation, Blue Leaders create, develop and maintain a motivational climate in the blockchain ecosystem that is conducive to superior work performance and outstanding organisational effectiveness aligned to the overall blockchain visionary purpose.

Blue Leadership is preoccupied with strategic reflections and analytics during his/her prime experiential reality-learning activities. Enduring sustainable advantages are the keys to create long-term exceptional returns on investments in capital, people, markets and technology in the blockchain ecosystem. Blue Leaders are identified and recognised through visible characteristic behaviors in a unique pathway matrix of actions.

Exceptional leadership has never been the mere co-ordination of resources. Blue Leadership is also not about the manipulation of material objects, services and people. In blockchain adoption and implementation, Blue Leaders throughout the blockchain consortium provide exceptional leadership through compelling vision, foster team development, embolden partnership cohesion, motivating and encouraging innovations from competing ideas as well as generate a unique motivating sense of direction in purposeful action towards the fuller maturity of a viable and functional blockchain system. 

The impact of blockchain technology is the result of effective learning harvested from the emergent challenges and prospects imagined in the blockchain space to leverage the specific competencies demanded of people, partners and stakeholders for excellent and holistic blockchain outcomes.

The mindware of blockchain leadership is congruent with Blue Leadership. They are directed in consistent action pathways, namely Strategy, Society, People, Stakeholders, Analytics, Leading, Systems, Markets and Learning. The 9-actions pathway operates as the sense-making framework for continuous reality-learning to empower transformational change through blockchain technology by the Blue Leader. The 9-Actions Pathway is visualised here:

The 9 Actions organically bond and fuse with each other, like an atomic molecule in quantum space, into a single entity with the 4 Passions and Orientations of Blue Leadership. These major leadership actions act in harmonious alignment to materialise the unshakeable visionary purpose in Blue Leadership when devoted to the adoption and implementation of blockchain technology.

The strategic cornerstones of Blue Leadership actions have Society, People, Stakeholders and Analytics as their core pre-eminent fascinations. They are the primary core considerations as Blue Leaders embark on the expeditionary journey into blockchain country. Analytics actions are programs for factual discovery involving identifying, gathering and analysing all types of data and information that are adjudged by Blue Leaders to be material and relevant from Stakeholders (employees, vendors, customers, regulators, partners and shareholders), People (non-buyers, service providers, stakeholders’ families, influencers and opinion makers) and Society (environment, community, associations, power groups and their enforcers, interests groups and the general public).

The strategic cornerstones of Stakeholders, People, Society and Analytics firmly anchor the pillar-like architecture of Leading, Systems, Markets and Learning. Together, the strategic cornerstones and pillars establish the actions framework for blockchain adoption and implementation.

When crafted and weaponized for blockchain strategy, Blue Leaders organized their action pathways as Action Frames, called Action Trigons. Each Action Trigon is the pivot on a strategic cornerstone in its affinity with 2 pillars. Blockchain strategy is driven and executed by the other Action Paths organised into distinct Action Trigons, each describing 3 mutually reinforcing actions. There are 4 Action Trigons, namely Data, Transform, Impact and Feedback. The Action Trigons enjoin when the action pillars become Trigon linchpins as they interplay in interaction to assure the integration, coherence and formation of blockchain strategy during their unison navigation through the blockchain terrain of opportunities. Together (chained) in action, they generate the kinetic motivational energy driving the dynamism of formless Blue Leadership in the execution of blockchain strategic moves through the 9-Actions Pathway.

Driving Blockchain Implementation with Blue Leadership

Blockchain adoption begins with an understanding of the technology, how it fits into corporate strategy by creating sustainable competitive advantages and its various immediate and long-term benefits to the enterprise. Select first a major business process to re-wire, reconstruct and reconfigure for blockchain technology application, using the action trigons of Blue Leadership. 

1) The Data Trigon [Analytics, Systems, Markets]

The Data Trigon pivots on factual discovery actions involving identifying, gathering and analysing all types of relevant data and business information from the operational terrain of blockchain opportunity to feed multiple multimetric analysis. Traditional tools like information system planning (ISP) and business system planning (BSP) can be used but be mindful of their limitations in blockchain data space where embedded trustiness and verifiable authorities make redundant data sets irrelevant. 

Systems refer to the leading actions in the never-ending creation, recreation and alignment of the appropriate organisational forms, structures, systems and processes. Systems actions also design and deploy distributed apps (Dapps) to leverage and maximise advantages unleashed by the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). Markets actions aim at embodying real value into desirable products and services (research, innovations, design thinking, fabrication) and translate marketing efforts into sales revenue at affordable prices. Human and organisational psychometrics in the opportunistic blockchain terrain are also critical inputs to the Data Trigon through the interplay of Systems and marketing communications.     

2) The Feedback Trigon [Stakeholders, Leading, Learning]

Blockchain strategy is informed by multiple multimetric analytics from various stakeholders and other sources as harvested by the Data Trigon. Leading actions are leadership inspirations based on facts, knowledge, learning and grounded information.  Stakeholders actions involve conversations, participation, co-investments, responsibility, partnerships and ethical behaviors.

A business case example is the IBM-Maersk Blockchain Project which is developing a global supply chain blockchain ecosystem. It is expected to eventually involve a consortium of more than 100 business, financial, governmental and associated organisations including 4 ocean carriers, 3 inland carriers, more than 40 worldwide ports and terminals, large freight forwarders, and eight customs authorities spanning the globe from Rotterdam to Bahrain.

Flexible organisational structures supported by adaptive systems and value-laden innovations have to be designed and developed to support new value propositions to address emergent and new blockchain-driven markets. The formless essence of blockchain strategy feeds on a never-ceasing diet of continuous learning empowered by immanent aspirations and expectations of various stakeholders and consortium partners using blockchain technology as it interacts with the realities of blockchain opportunity.

The Data and Feedback Trigons play a crucial role during blockchain adoption planning as the blockchain consortium is mobilized and consulted. Consortium partners and stakeholders – having diverse opinions, knowledge, experience and visions – must work towards a convergent consensus on the best use of blockchain technology to address the novel issues of the desired blockchain business system.  Their diverse expectations are moderated into a proof of concept (POC) planning structure of objectives and functional outcomes which will influence and drive the next transformation and implementation phase.

 3) The Transform Trigon [Leading, People, Systems]

The Transform Trigon pivots on purposeful actions by consortium partners, stakeholders, people and organisations in the production of creative and innovative blockchain application solutions to test and evaluate the POC prototype against the desired benchmarks. Leading actions also involve visioning, visualising strategy and inspiring, motivating, developing, supporting, rewarding, engaging and empowering People, promote decent work as well as mobilising the critical resources (including funds, alliances, partnerships) for the necessary Systems actions to execute, roll out and implement the blockchain solution successfully.

It must be reiterated again that “there is no one best” blockchain configuration. Many platforms are currently being used to build desired blockchain solutions defined by different needs and domain architectures.  They use unique smart contracts, personal verification, tokenisation, certification and various other Dapps.  Some notable blockchain platforms include the Hyperledger, Ethereum, ChromaWay, Quorum, Ripple, Stellar, Provenance and PeerNova. Some use cryptocurrencies and value tokens like Safecoin-Maidsafe.  

Another example is a current business blockchain use involving related multi-sector projects. The blockchain concept envisages building a blockchain ecosystem on the Hyperledger Fabric to host a blockchain-driven cryptocurrency (DGi$) for value transactions and (eventually) other blockchains containing both transactional and non-transactional data. The mature blockchain ecosystem shall eventually be a hybrid of blockchains and conventional off-chain database solutions.

4) The Impact Trigon [Society, Learning, Markets]

Since there is “no one best” blockchain configuration, the nature of blockchain strategy is formless, like Blue Leadership strategy. The formless nature of Strategy involves continuous learning (formal, informal, co-operative, mentoring, coaching, neurolingistic programming) from the Society and Markets actions in the applicable blockchain opportunistic terrain. The Impact Trigon pivots on the delivery of abundant physical and business satisfaction to unlock greater access to the opportunities of happiness through Society actions (corporate social responsibility and balancing profits, people & planet). Exceptional blockchain leadership further obtains impact outcomes through empowering effective management of consortium relationships in Markets actions. 

Blockchain impact is powered by the distributed and decentralised actions of adaptive smart systems and flexible blockchain data structures to complement the demands of Markets actions in the service of Society.

 As blockchain technology diffuses with the Internet of Things (IoT) by facilitating value transactions internetically as it advances, the technology gives rise to what Gartner calls "the programmable economy" powered by entirely new business models that eliminate all kinds of middlemen, leveraging on machine networks in which devices engage in economic activity, and creating "smart assets" in which various assets are tokenised and fractionalised to be traded according to programmable or artificial intelligence-based rules rather than regulated by the controls of a centralized entity.

A Blockchain Leadership Model within Blue Leadership

The 9-Actions Pathway provides the sensemaking frame for blockchain strategy driven by Blue Leadership. It materialises the Way [Tao] of Blue Leadership for the planning, formulation, execution and evaluation of blockchain strategy. When fully deployed, the Pathways become the essential DNA building blocks of a living blockchain organisation led by Blue Leadership to assure sustainability for the long-term existential survival of blockhain organisations.

Blockchain technology unlocks possibilities of new business processes, new ways of work-life balance and new forms of social organisations. The innovative blockchain leadership mindset looks at the world of work, living and play with a heightened mindfulness found in Blue Leadership.

Our Blockchain Leadership Model with Blue Leadership creates a new Blockchain Trigon (Leading-System-Learning) which leads and inspires transformational change through learning and innovative technological, human and business processes eg smart contract, cryptocurrencies, exchange, tokens … etc.  The Blockchain Trigon describes the functional character of blockchain leadership in the Blockchain Ecosystem, and it resides with and within Blue Leadership. Together, they mutually strengthen their Capacility (capacity+capability) when they navigate the dynamic blockchain space with well-formed agile blockchain habits to embolden continuous adaptation even as they build their blockchain ecosystem through transformational change.

Related:

Join The Blockchain Revolution

In Search of Blue Leaders

The 9-Actions Pathway of Blue Leadership

The Passions of Blue Leaders

The Way of Blue Leadership