Quick, easy, reliable resource to assess organizational culture - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/quick-easy-reliable-resource-to-assess-organizational-culture/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/quick-easy-reliable-resource-to-assess-organizational-culture/

Quick, easy, reliable resource to assess organizational culture: starting point for sustainable, successful change.

 

We are pleased to announce that Chaordic Solutions has now partnered with now OCAI-Online to make the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) available to our clients … a hassle-free, online based tool for diagnosing and helping to manage organizational culture.

Completing Values Framework

OCAI is a validated instrument, used by over 10,000 companies worldwide.  It is based on based on the highly respected work of Professors Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron, who are responsible for developing the Competing Values Framework.

Using an analysis of thirty-nine indicators for organizational effectiveness, Cameron and Quinn discovered two important dimensions within their data.  From further analysis, they were able to identify four quadrants that corresponded with the four organizational culture types that they had found that differed strongly along these two dimensions … what they subsequently referred to as the Competing Values Framework:

 

 

Internal focus and integration VS External focus and differentiation

 

Stability and control VS Flexibility and discretion

 

 

 

 

To the left in the graph, the organization is internally focused: what is important for us, and how do we want to work? However, to the right the organization is externally focused: what is important for the outside world, the clients, and the market?

At the top of the graph, the organization desires flexibility and discretion, while at the bottom the organization values the opposite: stability and control.

Different Types of Culture

 

Every organization has its own mix of these four types of organizational cultures. This mix is found by the completion of a short questionnaire. This assessment is a valid method to examine organisational culture and the desire for change.

 

 

Successful organizational change is all about changing “the way we do things around here”: what you need is actual behavior change.  Working with your workplace culture is an excellent way to create this kind of real change.  The OCAI tool is a great starting point followed by engaging OCAI workshops that entice people to co-create their culture and take ownership for the change.

Importance of Culture

For over 25 years we have been helping senior executives to cope with complex organizational change.  Over this period, we have recognised the increasingly important role that culture plays in providing a foundation for success.  Our recent research into the barriers to implementing an integrated approach to governance, risk and compliance (GRC) has provided tangible evidence to support this view.

In conjunction with our ongoing consulting activities, we are now researching this area in more depth as part of our doctorate research activities into how the culture of an organisation can be influenced to make it more receptive to enterprise-wide initiatives such as compliance as well as GRC itself.

Our use of the OCAI-Online tool is a key part of our consulting and research activities.

Next Steps

We believe the OCAI provides a very useful and powerful starting point for sustainable, successful organizational change.  If you take the time for a serious dialogue about the outcome, you will achieve breakthrough results later on in the process.

Contact Robert J Toogood via email or on +44 (0)1983 617241 to find out more about how you and your organisation can benefit from using this exciting tool.

Contradicting views on future of corporate culture - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/contradicting-views-on-future-of-corporate-culture/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/contradicting-views-on-future-of-corporate-culture/

Contradicting views on future of corporate culture: functionally driven variations vs consistent corporate-wide.

 

Extract from strategy+business – Paul Michelman:

I’ve seen two strong theories about the future of corporate culture recently. Both are compelling, and each comes to a very different conclusion. In other words, we have all the ingredients for a debate.

The first argument: Many variations of culture should exist within an organization.

Of all the topics you might expect Eric Ries to riff on, corporate culture does not immediately spring to mind. Ries is the author of The Lean Startup and an expert on entrepreneurship and product development. As he argues it, the link between innovation and culture is hard to ignore. If companies—particularly large and mature ones—expect to adopt the sustainable approaches to innovation that Ries believes are critical to their survival, they need to forget about having a consistent set of norms across the full enterprise. Instead, they need strong cultures for their various professional functions.

Ries’s argument about culture derives from his larger belief that different functions in the organization require different forms of management. The part of the organization that develops new products and launches new lines of business, for example, should not be held to the same set of standards as units that manage mature and stable lines. The same should be true of their cultures.

According to Ries, a healthy innovation-focused culture will …

More: http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Corporate-Culture-Is-Dea-Long-Live-Corporate-Culture?gko=46810

©2013 Booz & Company Inc. All rights reserved.

Importance of risk management in restoring post-crash confidence - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-risk-management-consultants/importance-of-risk-management-in-restoring-post-crash-confidence/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-risk-management-consultants/importance-of-risk-management-in-restoring-post-crash-confidence/

Importance of risk management in restoring post-crash confidence: some progress made but more work still needed.

 

Extract from Economist Intelligence Unit – Management Thinking:

To assess the progress and shortcomings of financial institutions in meeting new regulatory requirements the Economist Intelligence Unit polled 350 senior-level executives at financial services firms in March 2013.  The survey, sponsored by Protiviti posed questions about their firms risk management defenses before and after the crisis.  Most respondents hailed from Western Europe and North America, with the bulk of the remainder in the Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe.  Those polled represent the main financial industry sub-sectors, with about half in banking, nearly one quarter in insurance and the balance in capital markets and private investment funds.  The survey finds that just a small minority of respondents rate their risk management systems as fundamentally sound over the crisis.  Yet increased regulatory pressure ranks as their greatest risk management priority.   Survey results also single out actions taken since the crisis to shore up risk management defenses, and obstacles that impede such efforts, including resource shortages.  But, respondents noted, compliance brings many benefits including better operational efficiency and customer assurance.

You can download the full report here.

More: http://www.managementthinking.eiu.com/restoring-confidence.html

Don"t forget to implement your new strategy - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-strategy-implementation-consultants/dont-forget-to-implement-your-new-strategy/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-strategy-implementation-consultants/dont-forget-to-implement-your-new-strategy/

Don’t forget to implement your new strategy: become more focused on implementation by creating culture of execution.

 

Extract from Knowledge@Wharton:

When it comes to executing strategy, the old saying “the devil is in the details” holds true for many companies, according to Wharton emeritus management professor Lawrence G. Hrebiniak.  While executives may readily participate in the development of new strategies, execution tends to get short shrift, because it is often viewed as a lower-level task or concern, he notes.  In the following interview, Hrebiniak — who just published the second edition of his book, Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change — explains why it’s critical for firms to create a “culture of execution” in order to succeed.

An edited version of the conversation appears below ….

More … http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=3316

All materials copyright of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Recent research identified five success factors for PPM effectiveness - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-portfolio-management-consultants/recent-research-identified-five-success-factors-for-ppm-effectiveness/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-portfolio-management-consultants/recent-research-identified-five-success-factors-for-ppm-effectiveness/

Recent research identified five factors for PPM effectiveness: can be used in any organisation to increase success.

 

From Robert J Toogood, Senior Partner – Chaordic Solutions:

Recent research from project management researcher-practitioners at Pennsylvania State University and the Stevens Institute of Technology … Dr Peerasit Patanakul, Dr Audrey Curtis, and Brian Koppel, MBA PMP, has identified five factors that contribute to Project Portfolio Management (PPM) effectiveness.  These factors are:

1. Formal strategic planning and capital budgeting;

2. Organisational entities responsible for project and portfolio management, and their organisational placement;

3. Frameworks and processes for project portfolio management and information systems support;

4. Organisational culture;

5. Committed, active and competent participants.

These success factors were identified following detailed research conducted inside five different organisations in which they were given unique, privileged access to detailed project documentation and key stakeholders.  This enabled them to create a evidence based definition of project portfolio management effectiveness that can be applied to any organisation.

More … http://www.pmi.org/en/Knowledge-Center/Research-Completed-Research/Effectiveness-in-Project-Portfolio-Management.aspx

Research confirms value of creating risk-aware and open communication culture - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/research-confirms-value-of-creating-risk-aware-and-open-communication-culture/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/research-confirms-value-of-creating-risk-aware-and-open-communication-culture/

Research confirms value of creating risk-aware and open communication culture: risk function just guides and educates.

 

Extract from airmic News:

Research finds that resilient firms are those that eliminate internal barriers. Resilient companies do not depend solely on processes or compliance; they create an environment where everyone is risk-aware and barriers between senior managers and their staff are reduced to a minimum. That is one of the main findings of ‘Roads to Resilience’, a report being produced by Cranfield Business School on behalf of Airmic.

Researchers investigated eight firms that have either managed to ride crises successfully or have avoided them altogether. Just as Darwin discovered that the most adaptable, not necessarily the strongest species survive, ‘Roads to Resilience’ found that the most durable firms are those that can respond rapidly and effectively to changing circumstances.

In order to do so, businesses should create a culture where all staff are risk-aware and feel able to pass on their knowledge and views (even bad news!) to senior management. The role of the formal risk function is to guide and educate colleagues rather than to create a silo labelled ‘risk management’.

‘Roads to Resilience’ follows the highly acclaimed ‘Roads to Ruin’, which investigated the factors behind corporate failure. Published in 2011, the first research identified ‘risk glass ceilings’ as a recurrent problem, where vital information known elsewhere in the organisation never reached senior management or the board.

By contrast, ‘Roads to Resilience’ finds that the glass ceiling is absent in successful companies, and staff communicate easily with those at the top, acting as their radar. To achieve this, senior managers need to engage with their staff, earning respect by listening and experiencing what it is like to work in the company.

“At Jaguar Land Rover, senior executives spent half their time walking the shop floor, instead of sat in front of their computers in ivory tower offices. There has to be strong trust and people have to respect and be respectful of the people leading them,” said Dr Stephen Carver of Cranfield Business School.

To quote the chief operating officer of Virgin Atlantic: “The executives sit in open-plan offices, and we are not on the top floor – we just happen to be in one corner on the second floor. People know where we are, we immerse ourselves in the business, and they can come and talk to us.”

“The key message in this report is that culture enables resilience, and that culture comes from the top,” said Airmic chief executive John Hurrell. “Board members need to lead the way, not by lecturing their people but through example and connecting with them, by being approachable and willing to listen.

“It also represents a great opportunity for risk managers who, by virtue of their job, often have a broader knowledge of their companies than anyone else. They are ideally placed to facilitate the development of a corporate culture where everyone owns the risk management process.”

Airmic has published the main findings in an executive briefing ahead of the full report, which is due to come out in September. It is based mainly on interviews with executives at eight companies: American International Group(AIG); Drax Power Station; InterContinental Hotels Group; Jaguar Land Rover; Olympic Delivery Authority; The Technology Partnership; Virgin Atlantic, and Zurich.

The project is sponsored by Lockton, Crawford and PwC.

More … http://www.airmic.com/news-story/research-finds-resilient-firms-are-those-eliminate-internal-barriers?

© Airmic 2013

 

Value from redefining innovation for success - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/value-from-redefining-innovation-for-success/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/value-from-redefining-innovation-for-success/

Value from redefining innovation for success: leveraging existing assets, competitive advantages and familiarity.

 

Extract from European Business Review – Patrick Barwise & Seán Meehan

Don’t be overawed by Apple – your company too can innovate beyond the familiar. This isn’t about “blue-sky thinking”, “blue ocean strategy” or pioneering completely new-to-the-world product categories: Apple doesn’t actually do that. It’s about being a user-focused fast follower and a relentless improver. Every company can successfully innovate beyond the familiar, although it does mean being willing to go beyond your comfort zone. We offer a general framework to help you do it.

More … http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/?p=6409

© 2013 The European Business Review | All Rights Reserved.

Ten steps to help you survive and prosper from economic uncertainty - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-portfolio-management-consultants/ten-steps-to-help-you-survive-and-prosper-from-current-economic-uncertainty/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-portfolio-management-consultants/ten-steps-to-help-you-survive-and-prosper-from-current-economic-uncertainty/

Ten steps to help you survive and prosper from economic uncertainty: using power of chaos for creativity and growth.

 

From Robert J Toogood, Senior Partner – Chaordic Solutions:

The world is changing faster than people are able to adapt to it … and if left unmanaged, this can result in organisational meltdown and ultimately, failure.

However, whilst this form of chaos brings uneasiness, it can also be used as a powerful catalyst for creativity and growth.

A few years ago, McKinsey published the results from a Global Survey into how companies make good decisions.  They highlighted several process steps that are strongly associated with good financial and operational outcomes.  In the survey, they asked executives from around the world about a specific capital or human-resources decision their companies made in the course of normal business.

The results emphasise the hard business benefits, such as increased profits and rapid implementation, of several decision-making disciplines – these include ensuring that people with the right skills and experience are included in decision making, making decisions based on transparent criteria and a robust fact base, and ensuring that the person who will be responsible for implementing a decision is involved in making that decision. Finally, although corporate politics sometimes seems to undermine strong decision making, some types of consensus-building and alliances apparently can help create good outcomes.

In the current economic climate, it is critical that organisations urgently review what they are doing and why they are doing it … to revalidate and review the relationship between their business strategy and tactical execution plans.  One approach that enables this to be easily achieved and meets the McKinsey criteria is a well-proven technique known as Project Portfolio Management (PPM). 

Using PPM you can re-prioritise the focus of your activities.  Obviously, this requires your business strategy to be current and up-to-date; if it is not, then this is a great opportunity to update it.  PPM enables you to maximise benefits from your project investments, because all activity is much more tightly aligned to your business strategy.  In doing this, the chaotic change associated with economic uncertainty can be brought back under control, by managing the inevitable ambiguity and complexity of the modern-day business environment with the use of effective communication.

Some projects may no longer be needed, so can be deferred or even cancelled.  However, other projects will still be needed to ensure the business can survive and emerge much more strongly from the dark months of economic uncertainty.  But none of this decision making should overlook the importance of compliance related activities that will still be needed and ideally already be embedded within the cultural veins of the organisation.

The following ten step check-list can be used to help you navigate through these challenging times and to refocus your activities for success. 

STEP 1:
Review and update your business strategy 

Is your strategy up-to-date and reflecting current business focus?  Make sure it is updated and owned by senior Management, and not by external consultants.  It should include tangible measures such as 10% more market share.  Use business investment not project related terminology.

STEP 2:
Communicate updated strategy and re-energise your business 

Does everyone know what they need to do within their own functional area to support your strategy and make it happen?  Ensure strong links between business strategy and tactical execution plans.  Rigorously and continually search out new value-adding opportunities for IT to add value to the business.

STEP 3:
Create inventory of your current projects and resources/capabilities 

What are all the different things you are working on and with what resources?  Make sure you include all resources associated with these projects including internal and external as well as chargeable and non-chargeable.

STEP 4:
Reconcile project inventory against your business strategy using selection criteria/priorities 

How do your current project activities relate to your updated business strategy, and in what way do they contribute towards this by adding value?  Be honest and ruthless.

STEP 5:
Make better tactical decisions using outcome from your reconciliation

Which of your projects should be cancelled, continued with, reintroduced or escalated?  Only proceed with projects that still add real value and enable the business to survive and grow.  Make sure the associated business cases are robust and well explained in terms that business ie non-IT people can understand.

STEP 6:
Prepare and implement your communication plan 

Does everyone know what you are now doing, and what is expected of them?  Use different approaches and media to ensure effective communication so that ambiguity and complexity are kept well under control.

STEP 7:
Enhance or set-up your Project Management Office (PMO)

How do you track the progress and activity of your projects?  Identify projects that need attention; see which projects have slowed down or haven’t had much work put into them. Are they still a priority? If not, reallocate resources and attention to more pressing needs.

STEP 8:
Refine your approach to project execution 

Do you build “collaborative capacity” through relationships, trust and knowledge exchange?  Intensify competition between internal teams.  Don’t cut back on meetings.  Meetings are more important than ever for brainstorming and firing up team members’ creativity.  Build new teams.  Business pull-backs are excellent times to pursue new ideas and projects and get them on the drawing board.  Don’t cut travel and insulate team members.  Get them out in the world and exposed to new thinking.  Encourage risk-taking.

STEP 9:
Embed PPM approach within your day-to-day business activities

Are you using PPM on a regular basis, and that resulting decisions/action are accurately focused on the real needs of your business?  If not, take steps to make sure PPM related processes are transparently integrated into day-to-day activities.

STEP 10:
Finally, keeps things in perspective! 

No matter what happens to the economy, there is going to be change, though it doesn’t have to be a traumatic process.  Most of these external changes are out of your control but we can always control our reaction and attitude to them.  Help your employees take ownership of their attitude and reaction to change.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this topic in more detail or if you have any queries about what is needed … contact our Senior Partner, Robert J Toogood on +44 (0)1983 617241 or via email at robert_toogood@chaordicsolutions.co.uk to schedule a session, on a non-obligation and confidential basis.

More … http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/services.html

 

Leadership models must change to reflect social nature of organisations - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/leadership-models-must-change-to-reflect-social-nature-of-organisations/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/leadership-models-must-change-to-reflect-social-nature-of-organisations/

Leadership models must change to reflect social nature of organisations: people often disengaged, disenfranchised and distrusting.

 

Extract from Management Innovation eXchange - Dan Pontefract:

In 1973, Peter Drucker stated in his book Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, “Management is not culture-free, that is, part of the world of nature. It is a social function. It is, therefore, both socially accountable and culturally embedded.”

Tom Peters some thirteen years later in an article, Managing As Symbolic Action, remarked: “It requires us, as managers, to get people to share our sense of urgency in new priorities; to develop personal, soul-deep animus toward things as they are; to get up the nerve and energy to take on the forces of inertia that bog down any significant change program.”

Yet, here we are in 2013 with organizational leadership models that continue to deny the social nature of organizations and wallow in inertia.

Our leadership practices remain authoritative. People are disengaged, distrusting and perhaps even disenfranchised.

According to the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer, less than 20 percent of respondents believe leaders are actually telling the truth when confronted with a difficult issue in their organizations. Furthermore, a study conducted by the Human Capital Institute and Interaction Associates in 2013 found only 34 percent of organizations had high levels of trust in the places they work. Furthermore, a paltry 38 percent reported their organizations had effective leadership running the show.

To cap off a small sliver of dismal data points, research firm Gallup found that over a twelve-year period between 2000 and 2012 the percentage of engaged employees in the workforce has shifted between 26 percent and 30 percent. That is, roughly 70 percent of employees in today’s organizations have spent more than a decade essentially collecting a pay check, an almost Shakespearean spectacle of tragic ambivalence.

What if our approach to leadership was to evolve into Drucker’s vision of “socially accountable and culturally embedded” management?

Cam Crosbie is the CIO of Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada, represented by more than 10,000 independent producers across Canada and Bermuda. Cam completely understands the need to “lead without authority.” He does so, quite simply, by asking questions rather than barking orders. Before moving forward with a big decision or a large project, Cam makes a practice of asking lots of questions, including, as he says, “even the so called ‘dumb ones’”.

As a CIO, Cam believes it’s important to reach out to others and inquire before pushing ahead. Cam said, “I hope that in some small way if people see the CIO unashamedly asking the simple questions, it clears the way for clearer and more meaningful discussion.” Perhaps the first step toward a better future for your organization is to acknowledge that you don’t necessarily know the way there—and, just as important, to understand that by asking questions, you not only awaken and engage people, you stand to collect more valuable perspective and ideas than you would by starting from a position of authority.

Leadership isn’t a 9-5 job—it’s communal, it’s holistic and it’s accretive. It’s time to abandon the long-held notion that the “leader” knows all and should decide everything. A fancy title doesn’t put you above others—it puts you in their service.

TELUS, a national telecommunications company in Canada, with $11 billion of annual revenue and over 40,000 employees worldwide (and where I am head of learning and collaboration), has worked incredibly hard over the past five years to raise employee engagement from 53 percent to 80 percent. It did so through myriad actions including the launch of the TELUS Leadership Philosophy. The TLP is an enterprise-wide leadership framework that cultivates a collaborative, social, open and engaging mindset among all employees regardless of rank or title. It encourages all employees to “engage and explore” with one another before “executing.” It defines key behavioral attributes such as communicating, collaborating, learning, deciding and adapting such that everyone can speak the same leadership language.

In mid-2010, an internal program was born at TELUS entitled Customers First. The overarching goal of the program was to improve the likelihood that  TELUS customers would recommend the company. As the program began to gain traction, another idea surfaced: Customer Commitments. Think of the commitments as customer promises—specific actions that any TELUS team member would carry out to help a customer regardless of role.

Instead of locking its most senior executives in a room to decide what the Customer Commitments were going to be for the organization, we designed a collaborative process that involved the entire organization. Over 1,000 different examples surfaced over a two-month period. Through focus groups, interactive online polling and voting, the 1,000 were whittled down to a final four.

If the culture at TELUS was one that relied on authoritative leadership, the Customer Commitments would have been created in a couple of hours by a few authoritative leaders. Because the culture was healthy, open and participative as opposed to dogmatic and ruthlessly hierarchical, the organization collaborated without authority. This is the work of leadership today: asking questions, involving people, connecting them to each other, creating a platform for their insights and ideas to make a real impact—in other words, unleashing leadership behavior everywhere.

In this moment of reflection, as we seek to redefine the work of leadership, let us remember the words of  Nelson Mandela:

“[Ubuntu is] the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others.”

If you’re lonely at the top, it’s time to start recognizing and amplifying the contribution of those around you.

Dan Pontefract is the author of Flat Army: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization and is the Head of Learning and Collaboration at TELUS.

More … http://www.managementexchange.com/blog/rethinking-work-leadership?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

 

Using wisdom networks to achieve rapid jump in productivity and growth - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/using-wisdom-networks-to-achieve-rapid-jump-in-productivity-and-growth/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/using-wisdom-networks-to-achieve-rapid-jump-in-productivity-and-growth/

Using wisdom networks to achieve rapid jump in productivity and growth: leveraging wisdom and effort of crowds.

 

Extract from Management Innovation eXchange – Marcus Cake:

Facebook reduced social interaction to books of “things” that could shared with anyone, everywhere and restructured global social time and attention and achieved global transparency and meritocracy in less than 10 years. Wisdom Networks are an open source platform that defines things, books, process and outcomes for complex communities and can be deployed within 90-180 days. Wisdom Networks will reduce organisations, industries and society to books that can be shared with anyone, everywhere, anytime and transform the remainder of society within 2-5 years. The change in person to person communication crowd creates the next stage of economic development – distributed prosperity. 

A Wisdom Network is an “Over the Top” platform that organises the wisdom and effort of crowds across the organisation, industry and society. Wisdom Networks leverages the Internet of Everything (IoE) by linking “things” to reveal knowledge, sharing books of things to share knowledge and organising action toward optimal outcomes. Any complex communities can be reduced to six types of “things” and a few simple interactions which can be managed by wisdom networks.

 

More … http://www.managementexchange.com/hack/wisdom-networks-crowd-create-leadership-productivity-growth-everywhere

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Time to view uncertainty and change as opportunities not threats - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/time-to-view-uncertainty-and-change-as-opportunities-not-threats/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/time-to-view-uncertainty-and-change-as-opportunities-not-threats/

Time to view uncertainty and change as opportunities not threats: leverage future uncertainty by embracing risk.

 

From Robert J Toogood, Senior Partner – Chaordic Solutions:

Change management remains an integral part of what is needed to achieve successful business transformation … but without addressing the softer, people related aspects/challenges experience shows it is not possible to bring about long lasting alignment changes. 

But change management needn’t be complicated.  Sometimes, the most startling effects can be achieved by going back to basics and reminding ourselves of what we are really trying to achieve, before getting all tangled-up with methodologies and models.

Our real-life experience shows that one of the softer issues/challenges often associated with change is uncertainty … this generates lack of business confidence, which limits investment made in innovation and therefore growth, which in turn creates weaker economic conditions that then potentially threaten us with recession if not addressed.

So uncertainty – what is it and should we fear it, or have we naively believed in the past that we could control the future?  Uncertainty generates lack of business confidence, which limits investment made in innovation and therefore growth … which in turn creates weaker economic conditions that then threatens us with recession.

Over the last few years the majority of us have clearly been taken by surprise – events have occurred locally and globally that we did not predict.  These unexpected, rare events are described as Black Swans by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” and specifically as “a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was”.  For years, Taleb has studied how we fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we actually do.  “We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world.”

So we need to change the way we think and therefore view things like uncertainty and change.  As Dr David Hillson says in his book “Exploiting Future Uncertainty: Creating Value from Risk”, “whatever the future holds, one thing is sure: nothing is certain except uncertainty.  Prediction is always hard, especially about the future, but the biggest risk is not taking any risk at all.  All businesses face significant levels of uncertainty these days.  To succeed you need to exploit future uncertainty, turning it to your advantage by managing risk effectively”.

We can help you to leverage these opportunities by embracing this uncertainty … book a free, introductory consultation call to discuss your immediate challenges on a non-obligation and confidential basis – simply call us on +44 (0)1983 617241 to set something up.

More … http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/services.html

Importance of people-orientated approach for managing M&A change - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-ma-consultants/importance-of-people-orientated-approach-for-managing-ma-change/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-ma-consultants/importance-of-people-orientated-approach-for-managing-ma-change/

Importance of people-orientated approach for managing M&A change: culture and communication must be priority actions.

 

From Robert J Toogood, Senior Partner – Chaordic Solutions:

As we have heard many times recently, revenue and growth is very important for our future survival … this can be achieved in a variety of different ways.   One such way is to embark upon a Business Transformation programme, another is to merge with or acquire a complementary or even a competitor company.

A recent survey report from Deloitte shows how mergers and acquisitions (M&A) can help drive revenue and growth … in this report, the view is shared that as the economic recovery continues, albeit slowly, they expect companies in many industries to rely increasingly on M&A to help drive revenue growth and bottom-line performance.  Survey results show that 52% of executives interviewed expect M&A to add more than 5% to revenue growth on a compound annual basis over the next two to five years.  This is significant when compared to average annual revenue growth of the S&P 500 of approximately 4% over the past 10 years.

The results from another survey, this one from McKinsey, show that in spite of the difficult economy, most executives still think M&A is an important strategy for growth.  In fact, nearly half of the respondents expect their companies to explore more deals in the next 12 months than the previous 12 months, and small majorities expect them to start or complete at least as many, if not more.

However, history shows that the majority of mergers and acquisitions fail to deliver the originally expected benefits and value.  So why is this so?  There have been many surveys and studies that have attempted to understand these underlying reasons; people related challenges tend to dominate the findings.  This therefore emphasises the importance of taking a more people-orientated approach to managing change within these situations, making sure things like culture and communication are properly addressed as priority actions.

We can help you address these challenges effectively so you can ensure you are one of the 20% of organisations that are able to succeed in delivering the original expectations for the deal … book a free, introductory consultation call to discuss your immediate challenges on a non-obligation and confidential basis – simply call us on +44 (0)1983 617241 to set something up.

More … http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/services.html

Benefit from quick access to world class management consultancy expertise, as and when YOU need it - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/news/benefit-from-quick-access-to-world-class-management-consultancy-expertise-as-and-when-you-need-it/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/news/benefit-from-quick-access-to-world-class-management-consultancy-expertise-as-and-when-you-need-it/

Benefit from quick access to world class management consultancy expertise, as and when YOU need it; introducing our new innovative CHAORDIC PILOT™ Service.

Sometimes organisations and people need extra help with adapting to our constantly changing and uncertain world, to overcome a particular challenge … and this is where our new CHAORDIC PILOT™ Service can assist.

For over 25 years we have been helping senior executives cope with the organisational change aspects of governance, risk management and compliance, in diverse organisations right across the world  … quite often as part of a regional European or global team.

 

Our new CHAORDIC PILOT™ Service is:

Flexible - enabling you to move away from the rigidity and prescriptive behaviours of more traditional support services … enjoy complete flexibility to change and adapt in line with your changing needs and goals.

Responsive – protecting you from cold, impersonal and overtly commercially driven arrangements … benefit from an ongoing relationship with someone you trust, that wants to passionately help with your business and its challenges, and can respond quickly to leverage upon this when needed.

Manageable – allowing you to be in control of the level of support you need … together we manage your service via regular review sessions during which we look at how things have gone, confirm or refine areas of focus and agree next steps/actions for the coming period.

 

We tailor your CHAORDIC PILOT™ Service to meet your unique, specific requirements …covering whatever you need from one or more of our key focus service areas of SUPPORT, IMPLEMENT, REVIEW, RESCUE and RESEARCH.

You then secure this commitment from us and simply call off against it, as and when you need it.

 

NEXT STEPS

Contact our Senior Partner, Robert J Toogood on +44 (0)1983 617241 or via email at robert_toogood@chaordicsolutions.co.uk to schedule a call to discuss your immediate challenges on a non-obligation and confidential basis … so together we can start to structure your very own personal CHAORDIC PILOT™ Service to help you meet them.

 

Eight ways to make change work - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/eight-ways-to-make-change-work/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/eight-ways-to-make-change-work/

Eight ways to make change work: ways to avoid being one of the 70% of change initiatives that fail.

 

Extract from Knowledge@Wharton:

Studies put the failure rate of organizational change at 70% or higher. Yet, managers face increasing pressure to implement change to meet short- and long-term goals. Gregory P. Shea and Cassie A. Solomon share their approach to dealing with this challenge in Leading Successful Change: 8 Keys to Making Change Work. Jeff Klein, director of the Wharton Graduate Leadership Program, recently spoke with the authors about why we are not as good at change as we need to be, and how we can get better at it.

An edited transcript, podcast and video of the conversation follows.

More … http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=3305

All materials copyright of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania,

Benefit from emulating mavericks - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/benefit-from-emulating-mavericks/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/benefit-from-emulating-mavericks/

Benefit from emulating mavericks: innovative business models, novel technologies, leveraging experience and ideas.

 

Extract from bcg perspectives by the Boston Consulting Group – Martin Reeves, George Stalk, and Jussi Lehtinen:

In an era in which scale-based leadership is both less durable and less valuable than it once was, many large corporations find themselves looking over their shoulders for the next disruption—the iPhone equivalent that could reshape their industry. In many cases, these disruptions come from mavericks—small outlier companies that think and act differently from incumbents.

A group of strategists met recently in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the emerging theory and practice of outlier strategy. The conference featured a “Meet the Mavericks” panel discussion in which four outliers described their experiences in successfully challenging incumbents.

Common to all four companies, the discussion revealed, is that they built a significant and profitable business by changing the way their industry operates. Here are some insights on what large companies can and should learn from outliers.

More … https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/growth_business_unit_strategy_lessons_from_mavericks_staying_big_by_acting_small

Copyright © 2013 The Boston Consulting Group  All rights reserved

Harnessing the power of austerity to create opportunity and growth - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/harnessing-the-power-of-austerity-to-create-opportunity-and-growth/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/harnessing-the-power-of-austerity-to-create-opportunity-and-growth/

Harnessing the power of austerity to create opportunity and growth: managing change effectively for survival and prosperity.

 

From Robert J Toogood, Senior Partner – Chaordic Solutions:

We are constantly bombarded with negative messages about challenges ahead of us; messages that seem to continuously refer to terms like austerity, recession, revenue, growth, innovation, confidence, complexity, and chaos … to name but a few!

European leaders continue to warned of difficult years ahead.  However, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.

Whilst the inevitable chaos caused by economic uncertainty has a tendency to push organisations into retreat, this is not always the case.  Did you know that iconic companies like:

Disney, CNN, MTV, Hyatt, Burger King, FedEx, Microsoft, Apple, Gillette, AT&T, Texas Instruments, 20^th Century Fox, IBM, Merck, Hersheys, IHOP, Eli Lilly, Coors, Bristol-Meyers, Sun, Amgen, The Jim Henderson Company, LexiNexis, Autodesk, Adobe, Symantec, Electronic Arts, Fortune, GE, and Hewlett-Packard

were all founded during periods of economic recession and instability.

One definition of chaos suggests it is the uncertainty sparked by uncharted territory, economic recession, and bubbles of opportunity.  We seem to phase in and out of this chaotic state … a state of randomness and disorder.  The ebb and flow happens in an almost natural way, almost mimicking what occurs in the natural world.  This system of natural governance that blends the characteristics of chaos and order is known as the chaordic state.

The good news is that we can use the significant power of these chaordic forces to help with generating revenue and growth, so important for our future economic survival.  One such way could be to embark upon a business transformation programme, another might be to merge with or acquire another company.  All of these require change … something that we have to accept is a permanent feature of the world in which we all live.

So what is business transformation – well, it’s all about aligning people, process and technology to achieve some previously agreed significant change.  These three areas also feature as being important when considering a more coordinated approach to the associated areas of governance, risk management and compliance within an organisation.

Our real-life experience shows the importance of making sure your desired significant change is relevant and appropriate ie is your business strategy “fit-for-purpose” and correctly aligned with what is going on in at the operational level?  It could be that in order to achieve your strategic objectives you need to merge with and/or acquire another company … or it could be that organic growth is what is needed.

The conclusions from an Economist Intelligence Unit report on business transformation highlighted that the ability to manage change effectively is a great competitive advantage.  It goes on to make the point that external crises such as what we are experiencing at present help to drive change in organisation and provide a “burning platform” for change, but emphasises the importance of the people-related challenges.

Several years ago, a white paper from our own consultancy promoted the benefits of using a ten-step approach for generating prosperity from the deteriorating economic conditions at that time.  It is encouraging to see that Kepner-Tregoe has been recommending a similar approach in their paper about coping with uncertainty in the business environment.  The key message from both approaches is the importance of developing a clear business strategy and then maintaining strategic directions and integrity when times get tough.

We can help you take advantage of well-proven, tools and techniques to help you survive and prosper from the continuing economic uncertainty … .book a free, introductory consultation call to discuss your immediate challenges on a non-obligation and confidential basis – simply call us on +44 (0)1983 617241 to set something up.

More … http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/services.html

Failure follows project approach to innovation - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/failure-follows-project-approach-to-innovation/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/failure-follows-project-approach-to-innovation/

Failure follows project approach to innovation: cannot force it to happen, can only shape environment to facilitate.

 

Extract from Forbes Leadership website – PJ Chan:

Innovation is a big corporate buzzword, and it’s one of the hottest topics on this blog. That’s because it’s one of the biggest mysteries to business leaders. A new study from Accenture, “Why Low Risk Innovation Is Costly,” revealed that fewer than one in five chief executives believes their company’s strategic investments in innovation are paying off. Because of the high percentage of failure, nearly half of the executives surveyed said their companies were less likely to risk implementing breakthrough ideas.

While some companies are wildly successful with their innovation attempts, we also know that at least 70 percent of change efforts fail and, by definition, innovation ranks as the biggest change effort out there. The question is: What are these unsuccessful CEOs and their people doing wrong with their strategic investment in innovation?

Innovation only happens in the right environment, one where everyone is not only allowed to innovate, but they are actively encouraged to speak up and bring new ideas to the table. This may sound like common sense, but it is far from common practice.

How do you create an innovative environment? While I can’t prescribe how to make your organization innovate, these tips can help you breed a culture that contains innovation in its DNA.

Continues: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2013/06/07/6-tips-for-building-innovation-into-your-company-dna/

Author: PJ Chan is a senior engagement leader at Kotter International, a firm that helps leaders accelerate strategy implementation in their organizations.

2013 Forbes.com LLC™   All Rights Reserved

 

Improving knowledge worker productivity by 10-15% - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/improving-knowledge-worker-productivity-by-10-15/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/improving-knowledge-worker-productivity-by-10-15/

Improving knowledge worker productivity by 10-15%: power of collaborative process and knowledge management.

 

Extract from Management Innovation eXchange – Mårten Keijser:

How we improved the productivity of knowledge and interaction workers by 10-15% through the introduction of a collaborative process & knowledge management solution. In other words, a documentation of the values attributed to enabling and empowering employees to be in charge of a greater part of their work situation.

It is also a summary of insights regarding how to handle the issues of control and information security, things that a major enterprise would never give up despite overwhelming benefits of a more open culture.

Easily shared insights

Influencing a conservative industry giant is quite a different challenge compared to for example shaping a new startup, but the values attributed to progressive management philosophies can be just as real.  If I were to list the three most important things required to achieve what we did it would be (in ranking order):

1. You need a sponsor from high up in the hiearchy that believes in the project and the solution you try to accomplish.

2. Involve users and stakeholders very early and listen to their feedback, It is valuable and also, if you try and change how people work they must see the value of the change and this is much easier if they feel that they are included early in the process.

3. Rely on people that are smarter than you when you develop the solution, it just gets so much better.

More … http://www.managementexchange.com/story/making-office-knowledge-open-sourceich-case-study

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

New decision-making tool wins excellence prize - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/new-decision-making-tool-wins-excellence-prize/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/new-decision-making-tool-wins-excellence-prize/

New decision-making tool wins excellence prize: gives decision makers true insight into multi-criteria problems.

 

Extract from University of Portsmouth Press Release:

A new decision-making tool designed by researchers at the University of Portsmouth has been praised as outstanding for its potential contribution to business.  Dr Alessio Ishizaka, Dr Philippe Nemery and colleagues won the Outstanding Paper Award for the Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2013.

Their research on sorting methods, used by decision makers in all sectors including finance, the environment, marketing and medical diagnosis, has the potential to help improve the results of complex decisions.

Their research is published in the latest edition of the Journal of Modelling Management.

Dr Ishizaka is an expert in decision analysis and Dr Nemery is a mathematician.

In their study, they examined 20 small and medium sized businesses in France to assess the quality of their decisions and the success of each business.  They found existing decision-making tools, widely used by businesses, give results which are too broad to be meaningful and, as a result, are unable to help a decision maker make radical improvements.

Instead, the researchers developed and tested a finer detailed and visually graphic model, which they say will make it much easier for businesses learn and grow.

Dr Ishizaka said: “Companies prosper or fail as a direct result of decisions taken by managers or stakeholders, so it’s vital the way they make decisions is examined.

“Several decision-making tools exist but they provide raw, quantitative data rather than richer qualitative results which give decision makers true insight into multi-criteria problems.”

The new model allows decision makers to compare different actions and outcomes on a visual scale.  When the model was tested it gave a huge degree of detail about each companies’ strengths and weaknesses, which no previous models had been able to do.

Dr Ishizaka said: “This new model allows us to understand each company compared to its competitors. We could see, for example, that a company was good at project management but weak at human resource management, while a second was good at knowledge management but poor at product development, giving a much fuller measure of each companies’ capabilities.

“Existing models give flatter results, for example, ranking companies from best to worst, even if all the companies are performing poorly, and with no detail on which aspects were needing attention and which were being managed well.

“In our case study we could see immediately, once analysis was done, that even the best-ranked company still had room for improvement. That sort of detailed information is of significant help to anyone whose job is to make the best decisions, whether they are in finance, medicine or any other sector.”

The French co-authors of the research have since been awarded a grant of nearly 500,000 Euros from the French trade union, Union des Industries et Métiers de la Métallurgie, to develop the tool online to allow all businesses to use the tool to evaluate themselves. Dr Ishizaka will be supervising the development of the website and analysing the collected data.

More … http://www.smart-picker.com/

Europe has potential to become world innovation leader again - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/europe-has-potential-to-become-world-innovation-leader-again/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/europe-has-potential-to-become-world-innovation-leader-again/

Europe has potential to become world innovation leader again: but proactive policies needed to create right culture.

 

Extract from Booz & Company Press Release:

Brussels, June 6, 2013 – The 2013 State of the European Union Survey Reveals an Urgent Call to Action for E.U. Leaders

Business leaders are more pessimistic and more urgently demanding change—but, despite this, remain optimistic about the European Union’s long-term prospects for prosperity and global prominence. This is a core message of the 2013 State of the European Union (E.U.) Survey released today by Booz & Company, INSEAD, and the European Executive Council (EEC).

‘Overall, the mood is one of impatience with a strong call to action: Business is demanding that the E.U. take bold steps to promote economic, political, and social policies that directly address growth. There should be no sacred cows. The question is, will European leaders have the courage to act?’ says Per-Ola Karlsson, senior partner at global management consultancy Booz & Company.

The survey report, ‘Growing Europe: The Competitiveness Imperative’, reveals that corporate leaders are more pessimistic about Europe than they were last year (61 per cent compared to 52 per cent). And 88 per cent believe the E.U. urgently needs to implement policies to bridge the European competitiveness gap and raise productivity. However, the good news is that 72 per cent of corporate leaders do believe the E.U. is capable of achieving positive change, and looking ahead to 2030, they say the E.U. will remain one of the top global powers.

‘Business leaders want to move the debate beyond whether budget austerity or growth stimulation will revitalise Europe. Nine out of 10 respondents call for targeted actions to improve productivity and competitiveness’, says Javier Gimeno, academic director, INSEAD European Competitiveness Initiative.

Even with a potential U.K. referendum looming on the political horizon, business leaders do not believe the E.U. will lose member countries. However, they clearly believe tough decisions need to be made.

The report analyses the responses of 1,500 executives both in and outside Europe who were asked about the economic, social, and political aspects of the European Union. The report will be presented today at the third annual State of the European Union conference in Brussels.

Corporate leaders strongly believe the business sector will drive growth and advocate that, this being the case, their voices must be heard by policymakers.

However, this does not mean applying a ‘one size fits all’ solution across the continent. ‘The E.U. can act as an orchestrator: Countries don’t have to sing in unison but the E.U. should entice them to sing in harmony’, says Bruno Lanvin, executive director, INSEAD European Competitiveness Initiative. ‘Business leaders do not reject the European social model, but favour incentives to work—more flexibility in working hours, pensions, and wages—to help boost growth and reduce unemployment. The data shows that in countries where the economy is stronger, business leaders are open to adjusting the European social model if it helps solve the high unemployment and low productivity that is holding Europe back’.

Key findings include:

Economy

1. Eighty-two per cent of corporate leaders see a gap between Europe’s competitiveness and that of other regions, and 49 per cent believe this gap will increase in the next 10 years.

2. Restoring Europe’s productivity is the key economic priority of 88 per cent of respondents; the majority believe that growth will be spurred by small and medium-sized businesses, not multinationals or state-owned enterprises.

3. Eighty-eight per cent believe the E.U. could do more to represent business on a global stage, for example negotiating stronger trade links, but it will have to overcome the perception by non-European business leaders that Europe is a fragmented collection of markets rather than a single block.

Society

1. Fifty-nine per cent of business leaders remain committed to the core principles of the European social model and favour increased alignment on minimal standards for health, education, and welfare.

2. The policies for growth require a rethink of social models, where applicable. For instance, 91 per cent of respondents say the best way to balance budgets and improve productivity is by increasing the economic incentives to work.

3. Youth unemployment is a key concern; over 70 per cent of business leaders are looking for tax incentives to hire more young people and investments and subsidies to help in retraining the current workforce.

Technology and Innovation

1. Six out of 10 respondents believe the lack of innovation culture is a key obstacle to economic growth and development in Europe. To boost innovation, business leaders favour public–private collaboration and tax incentives for private investment in R&D, given the E.U.’s shrinking budgets.

2. Eight out of 10 business leaders are most concerned about the innovation threat from China and are less worried than in previous years about similar competition from India, Japan, and the United States.

Download the full report here: http://booz.co/15I8gqC

Access Per-Ola Karlsson’s video: http://booz.co/15I8gqC

For more information about the report partners, please visit:
INSEAD: www.insead.edu/home/
Booz & Company: www.booz.com
The European Executive Council: http://www.dza.fr/2.aspx?sr=1
The State of the European Union Conference: www.stateoftheeu.eu/

About Booz & Company
Booz & Company (booz.com) is a leading global management consulting firm focused on serving and shaping the senior agenda of the world’s leading institutions. Drawing on the talents and insights of more than 3,000 people in 58 offices around the world, we help our clients achieve essential advantage by working with them to identify and build the differentiating capabilities they need to outperform.

Copyright 2013 Booz & Company Inc. All rights reserved.

More … http://www.booz.com/global/home/what-we-think/reports-white-papers/article-display/revitalising-european-dream-2013?