Organizational Change and Optimization

Whatever stage your organization is in, I am sure you get that tingly feeling when someone mentions the word "optimization". It is indeed a big promise of getting to a better place through "a change" (or a few of those), which on its own may give some people a mild anxiety. Of course, you would want to do better, but how can you make the change really worthwhile.

Questions like "where do we start?" and "why do we need it at all if everything seems to work just fine?" start bothering people at different levels of that same organization. That is why the majority of articles and books on change management declare effective communication to be a centerpiece of a successful organizational change. However, I would say there are so many other aspects out there that must be taken into account, prioritized (can use simple point-based system) and brainstormed on. The combination of all internal and external factors are limitless, so the more you can cover, the higher the chances that the organization not only survives the change but comes out better off are indeed.

Here are a few ideas that came to my mind from the design thinking exercise:

1. Agile – the omnipresent word nowadays, agile concepts are fairly familiar by now, so some might think that they know how to work it. You might have implemented some selected aspects of it already, but it still does not seem to deliver a promised alignment and enhancement to the business. To that, we must start from the core values and eventually create an agile system and not just do cherry-picking.

2. Indeed, there must be a strategic approach in place. Strategy must take into account the complexity of the organization and to be able to assess the impact of every single decision, at every level of the organization.

3. It is empirical that we focus on continuous improvement, but not use it interchangeably with continuous change, as latter may bring fatigue and other uncovered pain points within an organization.

4. Bring on the power of digital world to help you smooth the bumpy road of change and get to the optimized state of business with less losses (losses are OK, but does this one align with your strategy?).

5. Moreover, are your gains or losses ethical? This is a fundamental question that some businesses are not concerning themselves with. Being an ethical organization is not easy nowadays, but we really need to start owning it, defining and outlining the moral compass explicitly, and do what is right.

6. Even if your business is product-based, the organization needs to be people-centric, meaning to put people not only at the forefront of the business, but at the center of all operations and strategic decision-making. The values must align.

7. Stating the obvious here, but none of the change initiatives would ever work without people who are responsible and accountable. The roles and responsibilities must be pre-defined, clearly communicated, reiterated regularly, accommodating for the process optimization. It might be wise to consider involving external agencies for the period of change.

8. Finally, empowerment could seem like a standalone paradigm. But, in the context of change management, I believe this is one significant characteristic of a successful change.

Admittedly, this list is far from being exhaustive and even each aspect could be broken down further. Listing the ideas is what makes a start though.

What are your ideas? Or, perhaps, you can share some lessons learnt from a success (or not quite success) story from your change and/or optimization initiative?