Transformation Failure
Ever wondered why so many Transformation projects go awry?
There are many reasons why these complex business transformations fail or do not deliver the entire package of changes required, in my experience on a number of large programmes of Transformational change, there is one consistent factor - ineffective leadership.
Many businesses enter into the world of transformation without fully understanding what success looks like, here is a scenario "a business decided to go down the managed service route in order to offer their customers a one-stop-shop and at the same time improve their margins".
The only problem with this was that they really did not understand their own complex business and whether or not it could indeed migrate successfully to their chosen strategy. Importantly however they clearly lost sight of the dynamic changes occurring within their industry, especially in the use of technology.
Good effective leadership would have saved the day, the strategy should have been challenged, a clear understanding of core competencies would have been identified, which would have demonstrated the huge gaps in the delivery model. This exercise would ultimately have highlighted the need to re-think how the business should operate moving forward.
Good leadership would have understood what the market was doing and how the competition were behaving, the use of technology and especially smart technology was undercutting the market and making the business a high cost option for the customer.
Finally a general lack of vision, energy, passion and ensuring the management team were bought into the strategy, meant that self interest prevailed and the change was doomed before it even began.
Good Transformation leadership and leaders are those who are able to see and visualize the journey, understand the risks and mitigate them and be able to motivate and drive the leadership team to success.
Finally he/she must understand the whole of their business, the industry and market dynamics and be able to align the objectives of the group and the larger organisation.
Many thanks for your valuable input Mark agree fully.
Redefining leadership to transform results, developing winning teams, and enabling successful transatlantic businesses
8 年I relate to this, strongly! The harsh reality is that most Transformation projects are built on sand. The focus is on strategy and gain, not on customers, the ONLY people for whom the changes should be instituted, other than employees, who are the people who will deliver it, so need to believe in it and be inspired to make it work. It's when things start going wrong, or in an unexpected direction, as they inevitably will (it's called life) that things unravel without a clear purpose (beyond profit) and effective, enabling leadership. The great 'secret', the killer truth, is that it is authentic, selfless, yet grittily determined, leaders who achieve sustainable excellence, not ego-driven autocrats. Research proves it, in spades. Furthermore such leaders foment the same style of selfless, enabling leadership from others at all 'levels', encouraging everyone to display and apply their leadership talent. Why is it so difficult for people to get their heads around? It happens in healthy families and successful sports teams, so why not in business?!
Transformation, Programme Design & Delivery
8 年Ken, and another thing ... transformational change is an endurance event and not a sprint. My experience is that business leaders often want to see returns in the current financial year and don't see the complexity of delivering, harnessing and exploiting the change. The outcomes are normally delivered incrementally on a longer time horizon. Therefore, managing expectations at the outset, both across the c-suite and wider business, is essential.
Senior Telecoms Program Manager/Director
8 年Fully agree. In addition, all too often leaders are shy/reticent/afraid of appearing to be too clear/strong/forceful in communicating their vision, especially in legacy/mature businesses, who ironically are often in most need of such leadership. On the other hand, this is exactly these are exactly the sort of qualities needed in leaders in start-ups. The thing both these situations have in common is the need for major change: in the latter case going from "zero" to a new growing enterprise, while in the former case, the need to turn-around / majorly change a "tanker" which has lost it's way / is failing to adapt.