This article stems from my (periodic) desire to make a brief mental recap on lessons learned that I have acquired from my experience. First, I now believe that each organization stands on the basis of two principles:
- Organizations exist as they structure themselves into roles, responsibilities and processes to generate value (through products/services/outcomes);
- Communication is a meta-process (thus cross-cutting) that fuels organizational life and enables its existence;
The life, survival and growth of an organization necessarily depends on its ability to adapt to the changing conditions of the competitive environment. Adapting here is understood as the ability to reshape itself to maintain/increase its advantage. This process of change or transformation can be carried out either passively-reactively or proactively.
In my opinion, I'd frame all opportunities for change according to three categories:
- forced (necessary because required)
- accidental (generated unexpectedly)
- planned (activated through programs and projects)
Whatever the category, the goals that have been reported to me over the years can almost always be traced to two dimensions:
- I would like people to use the tool/procedure/process xxxx
- I would like people to change their mindset (or adhere to certain values/principles)
The former refers to a human dimension of 'doing,' i.e., change as 'getting' things done differently (ways of working); the latter to the dimension of 'believing' and - in some ways - 'being' different (culture/mindset). The common denominator (concept of 'adoption') is that there must be an obvious change that impacts people's daily lives and has been made their own (integration).
However, in order for people to feel the change as their own, a 'journey to live', certain aspects must be considered:
- Alignment: management must ensure consistency and coherence between the strategic (Group), tactical (Business Units) and operational (Operations) levels. The main means by which change is achieved are “programs” and “projects.” Therefore, it will be necessary to pay attention to the communication and organizational aspects (including resources) between corporate and project management for what is directed from the top to have effective execution;
- (Workplace) Politics: in any organization, power is divided into groups (coalitions) often competing or co-opetition, based on the allocation of information and resources. As unobjectionable as the business case for a project may be, leaving this out means having to put more effort into “stakeholder management,” working on sponsors, enablers/facilitators, and controllers/guardians (who can generate resistances).
- Cultural: “Organizational culture is a set of values, beliefs, principles, ideas, ways of thinking, opinions and knowledge assumptions shared by members of an organization. They determine how the group [the organization or coalition] perceives, evaluates and copes with the environment” (Schein, 1996). Generating change with programs and projects with this in mind means 'bringing these elements to the surface' (making them explicit) so that they can be worked on. If the basic condition for learning is the willingness to learn, the same can be said in my view for change.
- Human: any effective change requires active engagement of people, giving them a space to listen and express themselves (to create authentic engagement and trust), providing opportunities to contribute in different forms, and enabling them with training and development of the right competencies (knowledge, skills). #upskilling #reskilling
- Technological: often an input to change processes, technologies are a basic (instrumental) element that places constraints on certain aspects (think of what is allowed/changeable in well-known ERPs), while on the other hand they can unlock new ways of working and make concrete benefits evident to people (users). This aspect requires a pre-assessment of people's level of readiness for change (maturity/readiness assessment) to define the best possible plan of action.
Anyone who wants to activate effective change should, in my opinion, take a holistic approach that considers all these aspects and their interactions. Balanced attention to each of these areas increases the likelihood of success that is truly driven and sustained by the people who make up the organization and bring it to life every day.
