Thriving in Transformation

I recently went downhill skiing at Tremblant, a ski resort in Quebec. At the base of the hill, the conditions were amazing, with clear visibility and mild temperatures. I was excited to be skiing in such nice weather so early in the season. This hill is known for its windy and cold conditions, so it looked like I had lucked out with the weather.?

I got into the gondola and realized I couldn’t see the view as we ascended because there was snow on the windows. I felt it was a bit strange that there was so much snow but thought it might be from the night before. As the gondola doors opened at the top of the hill and we were still under a shelter, I could see a bit more snow in the air. By the time we got 10 feet away from the shelter, the intensity of the wind and blowing snow struck with force. It felt like I was in another season or location. The speed that my environment changed almost made me feel like I was transported to another part of the world. What appeared to be clear and beautiful at the base was intense blowing snow at the top.?

As we embark on the journey to transformation, the amount of chaos and turbulence we will quickly face isn’t apparent at the onset. Those experienced in transformation know how to outfit themselves with the right equipment to make it through and enjoy the process.?

Although I had anticipated the cold and windy conditions from past trips and dressed for the occasion - after so many years, actually being it was a different matter. Fortunately, I was skiing with a few other people, one of whom had a bright orange jacket that I could keep track of as we started going down the mountain. Unfortunately, my goggles started to quickly fog up because of all the protection I was wearing. With the blowing snow and the fog on my goggles, I quickly realized that I had to change my ski style. I couldn’t see what was coming up ahead of me and had to use my other senses to make it down the hill. I had to start feeling my way down the hill.?

In transformation, we don’t always see what challenges may be coming up. We can only prepare for what we think will be coming up and be open to shifting how we do things as we continue on our journey. Every transformation and organization are different. What we need to go through for transformation is different. We need to adjust for the differences along the way.?

After making it down the first run, we decided to try a different run, hoping the conditions were better there. But, they were actually worse. It was icy in patches, sprinkled with moguls, throughout the run. This run isn’t supposed to have moguls, but piles of snow had started building up, creating moguls because of the conditions.? We made it down and decided to try our luck again and try another run. By the time we had reached the top, the blowing snow had started to turn partly into flurries. So, on top of the fog inside my goggles, a layer of ice began building up on the outside of my goggles. I managed to lose the person in the orange jacket in front of me and ended up going down a different hill than what we had agreed to, where the conditions were not great either. And yes, someone else followed me. We were able to regroup at the bottom of the hill, but it was a stressful endeavour and nothing like what I thought we would be skiing.?

In transformation, we rarely go down the same path, and the conditions change along the way. We can try different paths, but there will be ambiguity along the way; we might not be able to always see where we are going or where we need to go next, there will be roadblocks, and we may lose some people on the way down that may or may not come back. The more we are run or are part of transformations, the easier it gets, just like if we ski the same hill or mountain, it gets easier, but no two transformations are run the same way.? Each organization can go through adjustments and feel like a completely different organization along the way.? If people in your organization know where you are headed, they can catch up or even get there ahead of you. That’s all part of the process.?

The hacks to transformations are to prepare for bad conditions, have a plan in place as to where you want to end up, be flexible along the way, try different routes, have partners to go down the path with, and use as much information and sense you have access to – ensuring you make it through the transformation. Most importantly, remember that this is an experience and is challenging along the way, but the feeling of accomplishment at the end is pretty phenomenal.?