Transformation: Three meanings you should be aware of to navigate?change.

?"What people say, what people do, and what people say they do are three entirely different things." (attributed to Margaret Mead)

In the dynamic world of business buzzwords, one anthropological tenet stands tall:?"What people say, what people do, and what people say they do are three entirely different things."?In this article, I apply this motto to offer a fresh perspective on a major management challenge: organizational transformation.

TL;DR:

• Transformation means to see different things.
• Contextualization allows us to see different things. Organizations understand their position in emerging markets by investigating how they have fit into the broader context and how that context has changed.
• An organization is enabled to do different things by seeing different things. Transformation is thus not innovation but its prerequisite.
• Wanting to see different things, seeing different things, and doing different things are not to be confused. Clarity on this matter is essential to ensure your organization thrives in a volatile world.?

Deconstructing a buzzword:

Buzzwords like transformation are sexy. However, when a word lacks nuance, organizations can claim they have transformed when, instead, it’s merely business as usual propped up to seem like something it is not. The good news is that we can avoid getting stuck by elaborating on what transformation means. In this article, I present an anthropological elaboration. With its help, you can differentiate between what transforming organizations say, do, and say they do.

What is said:?

Transformation does not mean seeing things differently - it is to see different things.?

Transformation is not just seeing the same thing in a different light. To truly transform implies that one must see new things. A transformed organization, thus, does not merely recognize what capacities to improve. A truly transformed organization has recognized capacities that it has yet to use. Moreover, transformation enables an organization to see what capacities are needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

What is done:

To see different things requires an organization to encounter the "other," and, to understand what makes it "other."

In the first step to seeing different things, an organization must figure out how it perceives the world around it. They achieve this introspection by taking stock of their assumptions. Organizations do this by asking: what market is it we sought out to serve?

Secondly, they must shift their gaze to the world around them. They accomplish this extrospection by analyzing the market. Doing so, the organization must ask: how has the market changed??

In the third step, organizations need to figure out how to adapt to the world around them. They achieve this reflection by asking themselves: how are we not serving this market anymore, and what needs to change so that we can serve it?

Anthropologists refer to these three steps as the Ontological Turn. We use it to develop new concepts that enable us to make sense of currently unsensible phenomena.?

What is said is done:?

You can only do other things, after seeing different things. A transformed organization has paused to press the refreshed button in order to do the next big thing.

Pre-transformation, organizations look at the same thing from different angles and determine what angle is most beneficial to make things more efficient. In this state, chasing a "greater" good is easy. However, when organizations get too caught up in figuring out how to do things differently, they never pause to ask what it is they should be doing in the first place.

A transformed organization hesitated to question what else there is to do. As a result, their focus has shifted from the market that has been to a market that is. Based on this insight, transformed organizations can devise ways to serve an emerging market, resulting in new business offerings.?

The difference between a transformed and an untransformed one is that one has to improve while the other can innovate. However, the transformed organization can only innovate once it has undergone the transformative process. Therefore, we should not equate innovation to transformation. Instead, transformation should be considered the prerequisite of innovation. Innovation is an outcome that comes about under transformative conditions.

What is said, done, and what is said is done:

Organizations become transformed by engaging in an ontological turn. This turn involves introspection, a gaze beyond corporate walls, and incorporating new concepts into one's worldview. Following these three steps, a transformed organization can move on from doing a thing better to doing better things. Doing these better things is doing innovation. Organizations must transform themselves before claiming to be a transformer, an innovator, or a disrupter in the market.?

So what?

Businesses already know that they should be monitoring the market. So why does the trifecta matter? It matters because?confusing or conflating what is proclaimed, enacted, and aspired to can lead to adverse outcomes.?What sets anthropology apart in the change management discipline is that anthropologists have already assumed the difference between these paths. More so, they have pointed out what happens when we conflate them.

What's next:

In my next article, I want to demonstrate what happens when organizations conflate what they say they do with what they do. I will show how conflating plans with goals blurs an organization’s market perception.

About this series

In the intricate dance of organizational transformation, anthropology brings a unique rhythm—a beat that goes beyond the surface and dives deep into the core of understanding. Join me in this series on the anthropological take on organizational change, where we go beyond the buzzwords and into a transformative realm where organizations don't just change but evolve.

Acknowledgements

The understanding of the ontological turn as referred to here ("not seeing things differently but seeing different things") was adapted from "The Ontological Turn: An Anthropological Exposition" by Martin Holbraad and Morten Axel Pedersen.

Thank you Melanie Tan Uy for the immense time you spent helping with the edit. Without you my ideas would be incomprehensible to others as well as myself. Thank you, you are a true role model.

About the author

I am on a mission to live up to my human potential. My degree in international relations taught me to see the bigger picture, and my background in anthropology, how to make sense of it. I delivered original perspectives on the issue of good governance while working in a Think Tank and Strategy Consulting. Living in Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Mexico, and the Middle East has made me resilient and appreciative of other cultures and worldviews.?

I enjoy dancing swing and learning how to cook from my partner. Above all, I love deliberating with strangers about what it means to live up to one's human potential. I welcome anyone reaching out to me about what they are passionate about.