Are we there yet: A People-focused Analysis of McKensey's 2021 article "Organizing for the future"
The fading pandemic and recession that followed immediately after have offered both opportunity and challenges to business, many of which underwent massive change in the early days of Covid and continue to evolve. One year into the pandemic in January 2021, McKinsey and Company published an article outlining a framework for companies to become future ready creating what I've adopted as the nucleus of success.
Confucius said - "If one wants to define the future, they must study the past." Together let's focus on the people aspect of this article and chart a people-centric path to safety.
McKensey's graphic which I've called the "nucleus of success"
People are the Strategy
During a job interview with Grafana's CFO Wailun Chan I asked him about the company's strategy for growth and how he planned to navigate the difficult macro economic environment. He responded that "People are the strategy" and I was sold. I was impressed by a lack of ego in hiring people he believes are smarter than him and letting them operate freely. Employee's are more in tune with themselves and their needs than ever from the comfort of home and poor leadership methods like micro-management, valueless and purposeless directives and toxic culture have been laid bare in a new digital working society.
Even with the shift to remote work there are always improvements to be made in the pursuit of selfless leadership and what I believe to be the most important quality in a leader -- A relentless focus on the success of the backs that bear you up, because their success is yours.
A new generation's expectations for pace of career development has to be a sharp focus of today's leaders, those that continue to lead out of fear will receive fearful employees and poor performance in return. Global remote work and the opportunity it affords requires a total reset of expectations related to salary and benefits, career growth opportunities and value and purpose driven work. Everyone has access to the buffet now, a peanut butter sandwich in a brown paper bag isn't going to cut it for high tier talent.
Culture, Values and Purpose
Michael Kouly, successful CEO and author notes that "The culture of a company is the sum of the behaviors of all its people."
Throughout my career, I've experienced great culture leveraged to accomplish amazing things. I've also seen poor culture manifest in damaging ways, the difference being a focus on behavior and the values and purpose that drive it. Flexport, a global tech company I used to work for had an exceptional set of values that I still follow:
领英推荐
When I joined the company, I agreed to operate within the company values. Eventually, I became so impacted by some in my sphere who hadn't opted in to these values that I had to remove myself and find a better fit. Culture starts with you and your behavior, and ends with each of us holding the other accountable for behavior in or outside the bounds of mutually agreed upon culture. If you establish values and expect some employees to live them and let others slide based on position and title, your future is bleak.
Clear purpose fostered by great culture and amplified by values understood and practiced is a recipe for team members who are happy AND deliver results! Limited success may be a assumed based on character, experience, personal drive and environment but true 'moving the needle' type impact only comes when singleness of purpose is achieved. As McKinsey states, it is the "why" behind what we do --
"When centered at the heart of work, purpose helps people navigate uncertainty, inspires commitment, and even reveals untapped market potential. Future-ready organizations will clearly articulate what they stand for, why they exist, and will use purpose as the glue to connect employees and other stakeholders in ways that inform their business choices."
Decision Making, Structure and Learning
Many company organizational makeups stifle decision making to the point that you end up doing the job of the person you hired to do it. Radical trust is required to hire and educate the invested employees and allow them to operate free of bias and personal preference.
My interpretation of the graph below is that many companies recognize talent as key and plan bold moves to improve their position. The of those resources fades as they are on-boarded into a steep and ego-driven hierarchy of leaders who hire to dictate.
Asking questions to your team members like "do you feel totally enabled to make decisions as it relates to your job" and "do you feel like our team structure is effective and sustainable" could give you key insights into changes you need to make to give key talent all the tools to succeed.
The Future - Bumpy and Bright
Throughout a global pandemic, the "great resignation" (or the great rebalancing as I see it) and an ongoing recession have only reinforced to me an absolute business truth: People matter most. Business strategy that revolves around the health and success of each individual is difficult to design, implement and manage but pays long term dividends. There is no future-proof business model, the frequency of world-altering events seems to be increasing. I believe that merging the careful care of people and business strategy to become one and the same is the surest path to a successful future.