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?

 

Using mix of formal and informal factors to advance company strategy - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/using-mix-of-formal-and-informal-factors-to-advance-company-strategy/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/using-mix-of-formal-and-informal-factors-to-advance-company-strategy/

Using mix of formal and informal factors to advance company strategy: using organisational change for advantage.

 

Extract from strategy+business – Ashok Divakaran, Gary L. Neilson, and Jaya Pandrangi:

Drawing on Booz & Company’s long-standing work on organizational DNA, here’s how to design a mix of formal and informal factors to advance your company’s strategy. Click the link to also read the perspective of two Walgreens executives on their experience with organizational change.

©2013 Booz & Company Inc. All rights reserved.

More … http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00194?

How organisations are changing their approach to risk management - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/how-organisations-are-changing-their-approach-to-risk-management/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/how-organisations-are-changing-their-approach-to-risk-management/

How organisations are changing their approach to risk management: importance of strong C-suite leadership.

 

Recording of Webinar on 15 May 2013 produced in collaboration between the Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, Zurich, FERMA, and PRIMO

Listen to a panel of industry experts discuss real life experiences on leadership attitudes and strategic risk management implementation. Topics covered include:

- Risk governance and risk committee
- Strategic and operational goals versus risk management and risk culture
- Working with the board on risk issues
- Embedding a company risk culture

The findings from the 2013 Leadership and Risk Management Survey are also discussed.

© 2013 Zurich Financial Services

More … http://www.zurichcorporateforum.com/archive-videos/2013/05/17/leading-risk-culture-change-webinar

Promoting more natural leadership, dramatically expanding capacity - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/promoting-more-natural-leadership-dramatically-expanding-capacity/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/promoting-more-natural-leadership-dramatically-expanding-capacity/

Promoting more natural leadership, dramatically expanding capacity: individuals learning to lead without authority.

 

Extract from Management Innovation eXchange – Gary Hamel:

We live in a world where never before has leadership been so necessary but where so often leaders seem to come up short. Our sense is that this is not really a problem of individuals; this is a problem of organizational structures—those traditional pyramidal structures that demand too much of too few and not enough of everyone else.

So here we are in a world of amazing complexity and complex organizations that just require too much from those few people up top. They don’t have the intellectual diversity, the bandwidth, the time to really make all these critical decisions. There’s a reason that, so often in organizations, change is belated, it is infrequent, it is convulsive.

Because, typically, in those traditional structures, by the time a small team at the top realizes there’s a need for fundamental change, by the time a problem is big enough or an opportunity clear enough that it prompts action, that it breaks through all the levels, commands the attention of these extraordinarily busy people up top—it’s too late. So if we want to build truly adaptable organizations, we have to syndicate the work of leadership more broadly.

I think the dilemma is that as complex as our organizations have grown, as fast as the environment is changing, there are just not enough extraordinary leaders to go around. Look at what we expect from a leader today. We expect somebody to be confident and yet humble. We expect them to be very strong in themselves but open to being influenced. We expect them to be amazingly prescient, with great foresight, but to be practical as well, to be extremely bold and also prudent.

How many people like that are out there? I haven’t met very many. Right? People who have the innovation instincts of Steve Jobs, the political skills of Lee Kuan Yew, and the emotional intelligence of Desmond Tutu? That’s a pretty small set. And yet we’ve built organizations where you almost need that caliber of person for them to run well if you locate so much of the decision-making authority in the top of the organization.

MIX co-founder Gary Hamel in conversation with McKinsey Publishing’s Simon London on the Leaders Everywhere Challenge.

How do we overcome the formal hierarchy and promote more natural leadership? How do we dramatically expand the leadership capacity of our organizations? And how do individuals learn to lead without authority? Do you have a bold idea or a story that tackles one of these questions? Join the Leaders Everywhere Challenge and earn a chance to win this year’s HBR/McKinsey M-Prize for Management Innovation (deadline June 17^th).

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

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

Risk management and culture not perceived to help achieve core strategic objectives - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-risk-management-consultants/risk-management-and-culture-not-perceived-to-help-achieve-core-strategic-objectives/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-risk-management-consultants/risk-management-and-culture-not-perceived-to-help-achieve-core-strategic-objectives/

Risk management and culture not perceived to help achieve core strategic objectives: just as compliance exercise.

 

Extract from Chartered Insurance Institute – Policy and Public Affairs:

This Thinkpiece looks at some preliminary findings from a CII member survey, drawing some conclusions regarding cultures and attitudes towards corporate risk management in the insurance sector. It is part of a wider study on risk culture in insurance.

Risk culture has emerged as something of a hot topic since the banking crisis, resulting in major regulatory initiatives across financial services, such as Solvency II in insurance.

It would seem that, for the insurance sector especially, risk culture and risk management has become a major compliance activity. But is this where corporate risk management should reside?

The CII joined several other organisations in supporting a major research project by the London School of Economics and the University of Plymouth to better understand the drivers and practices of risk culture in the insurance sector.

- Much attention has been paid to problems of culture within financial organisations, and to “risk culture” in particular. Both financial institutions and their regulators remain unsure about what risk culture is, or how to manage it effectively.

- This article summarises the preliminary findings of a major London School of Economics/University of Plymouth research project into risk culture, part-funded by the CII. It aims to understand what financial organisations are actually doing about risk culture and why, as well as the practical challenges they are facing and how these might be overcome.

- Preliminary practitioner interviews suggest the presence of work streams and change programmes around the risk culture theme, but little consensus about what this means or how best to manage it. There was a strong focus on improving risk information infrastructure and reporting.

- CII member survey research points to three broad trends: most firms have a risk culture programme under way; these programmes are largely driven by regulatory initiatives such as Solvency II; there is limited evidence of drivers that are not related to compliance, such as error reduction, external disclosure and quality improvement. Overall, firms appear to be becoming more conservative. Risk management/culture programmes are intensifying this trend.

- Survey results suggest that in terms of drivers, risk management is viewed as a hygiene activity to deal with negative outcomes, or to handle what is required by regulators. It is not seen as a means of creating potentially profitable opportunities; this is regarded as a secondary concern.

Overall, the survey of CII members suggests that risk culture change programmes and risk management practices are both directed at regulation. Risk management is primarily viewed as a compliance exercise, rather than something to help firms achieve core strategic objectives.

Copyright ©2013 The Chartered Insurance Institute

More … http://www.cii.co.uk/knowledge/policy-and-public-affairs/articles/thinkpiece-95-understanding-corporate-risk-culture-in-insurance/25914

 

Many CEOs see culture as their highest priority - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/many-ceos-see-culture-as-their-highest-priority/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/many-ceos-see-culture-as-their-highest-priority/

Many CEOs see culture as their highest priority: the primary vehicle for establishing their legacy.

 

Extract from strategy+business – Jon Katzenbach and DeAnne Aguirre:

It is striking to see how many Increasing nbr of CEOs see their most important responsibility as being the leader of the company’s culture. According to Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, “Culture is your company’s number one asset.” Her counterpart at Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, has said, “Everything I do is a reinforcement or not of what we want to have happen culturally.” In another typical remark from the C-suite, Starbucks Corporation CEO Howard Schultz has written that “so much of what Starbucks achieved was because of [its employees] and the culture they fostered.”

Researchers such as former Harvard Business School professors John Kotter and James Heskett have also found consistent correlation between robust, engaged cultures and high-performance business results (as described in their book, Corporate Culture and Performance [Free Press, 1992]). But most business leaders don’t need that evidence; they’ve seen plenty of correlation in their own workplace every day.

More … http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00179?gko=6912e

©2013 Booz & Company Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Using hack days to support building of innovative culture - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/using-hack-days-to-support-building-of-innovative-culture/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/using-hack-days-to-support-building-of-innovative-culture/

Using hack days to support building of innovative culture: increasing creativity and passion outside day-to-day work.

 

Extract from NVIVO Blog – Adam Long:

A hack day (also known as hackathon, hackfest or codefest) is an event in which those involved in software development collaborate intensively on software projects over 1 to 5 days to create new product innovation.

Where does the idea come from?

Companies that run hack days include Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, NASA, and many more.  I was convinced that we at QSR International should also be running hack days to empower our talented staff to create more inventions for our customers and employees.

QSR International’s company values are articulated as collaboration, innovation, and celebration.  Our hack day goals supported our company values and were summarized as:

- Collaborate with Peers

- Innovate the Platform, Product, or Process

- Celebrate the Demonstration of Ideas

Choosing a theme

We undertook our first hack day in October 2012 and set the theme ‘Invent the Future’ which was inspired from the quote ‘the best way to predict the future is to invent it’ by Alan Kay. Our second hack day was in March 2013 and set the theme ‘Leadership through Innovation’ which was inspired from the quote ‘innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower’ by Steve Jobs.  We will continue doing more hacks days every six months.

 

 

 

 

 

What’s involved in a hack day?

In the lead up to the hack day we created a wiki based charter of ideas originating from customers that had not been explored.  Participants were encouraged to choose one of these ideas or propose new ideas and seek out interested team members.

Our first hack day involved 37 employees working on 15 unique project ideas over 2 days.  Given the success and interest in the first hack day, the second hack day involved 49 employees working on 17 unique project ideas over 2 days.

Each day started with a stand-up meeting to describe each project idea and raise any assistance requests.  On the afternoon of the second day an exhibit was held to demonstrate and celebrate each of the project ideas to the whole company.

Quality and diversity – how do you judge the best hack?

We assembled a judging panel consisting of the CEO, CTO (that’s me), Senior Project Manager, and an invited customer.  This judging panel had the difficult task of choosing the ‘most innovative’ and ‘most promising’ project idea.

Additionally, everyone in the company was given tokens to vote on the ‘most popular’ project idea.  The quality and diversity of demonstrable project ideas was incredible and exceeded most expectations.

Kevin Burfitt, our Senior Project Manager coordinated the hack days and when asked about his reflection on the hack days he had this to say:

“For two days we remove all the normal reporting structures, meetings and red-tape and just let people concentrate on their own innovative ideas.  Seeing the enthusiasm of so many people working together and bringing their hacks to life is inspiring.”

Turning hacks into real features: Community Feed and Geovisualization

The NVivo 10 Service Pack 2 released in February 2013 included 2 hack day project ideas from the first hack day.  The first was the Community Feed which facilitated the ability to provide live news, tips, and video tutorials to users of NVivo within NVivo.

The second was Geo-visualization which facilitated geospatial visualization of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter data captured using NCapture (a browser add-in) for analysis within NVivo.

Encouraging creativity and passion

We are proceeding with a half dozen hack day project ideas that will find their way into product releases and company process over the remainder of this year.

Hack days support building an innovative culture which allows experimentation, failure, and learning.  It enables participants to express their creativity and passion outside their day to day work and drives increased innovation within the organization.  The time constraint imposes the need for creative problem solving and early prioritization to ensure a demonstrable idea.

To finish, I quote Thomas Edison, one of world’s most prolific inventors in history:

“The real measure of success is the number of experiments that can be crowded into twenty-four hours”

Author: Adam Long is the Chief Technology Officer at QSR International and is responsible for envisioning and developing QSR’s software products. Adam is passionate about innovation and technology, especially where it is applied to assist people understand and improve the world around us.

Copyright © 2013 QSR International

More … http://blog.qsrinternational.com/hack-days-creating-new-product-innovation/?

We must reinvent management - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/we-must-reinvent-management/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/we-must-reinvent-management/

We must reinvent management: rethinking basic assumptions about capitalism, organisational life, and meaning of work.

 

Extract from Management Innovation eXchange – Gary Hamel:

What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation

MIX co-founder and leading management thinker Gary Hamel shares his agenda for building organizations that can flourish in a world of diminished hopes, relentless change and ferocious competition.

This is not a book about doing better. It’s not a manual for people who want to tinker at the margins. Instead, it’s an impassioned plea to reinvent management as we know it—to rethink the fundamental assumptions we have about capitalism, organizational life, and the meaning of work.

Leaders today confront a world where the unprecedented is the norm. Wherever one looks, one sees the exceptional and the extraordinary:

- Once-innovative companies struggling to save off senescence.
- Next gen employees shunning blue chips for social start-ups.
- Hundred year-old business models being rendered irrelevant overnight.
- Investors angrily confronting greedy CEOs and complacent boards.Newly omnipotent customers eagerly wielding their power.
-Social media dramatically transforming the way human beings connect, learn and collaborate.

Obviously, there are lots of things that matter now. But in a world of fractured certainties and battered trust, some things matter more than others. While the challenges facing organizations are limitless; leadership bandwidth isn’t. That’s why you have to be clear about what really matters now. What are the fundamental, make-or-break issues that will determine whether your organization thrives or dives in the years ahead? Hamel identifies five issues are that are paramount: values, innovation, adaptability, passion and ideology.  In doing so he presents an essential agenda for leaders everywhere who are eager to. . .

… reverse the tide of commoditization
… defeat bureaucracy
… astonish their customers
… foster extraordinary contribution
… outrun change
… build a company that’s truly fit for the future

Author: Gary Hamel  has been called the world’s “most influential business thinker” (Wall Street Journal) and “leading expert on business strategy (Fortune). His landmark books have appeared on every management bestseller list. He is also author of 15 articles for the Harvard Business Review and articles for The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and The Financial Times.

He is on the faculty of the London Business School and consults with GE, Time Warner, Nokia, Nestle, Shell, Best Buy, Procter & Gamble, 3M, IBM, and Microsoft. He founded the management consulting firm Strategos and the think-tank MLab. He is currently leading an effort to built an open innovation platform for reinventing management—the Management Innovation eXchange (MIX)—which is designed to radically accelerate the evolution of management knowledge and practice.

More … http://www.managementexchange.com/feature/what-matters-now

Most innovative companies create culture that continually surprises - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/most-innovative-companies-create-culture-that-continually-surprises/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-business-transformation-consultants/most-innovative-companies-create-culture-that-continually-surprises/

Most innovative companies create culture that continually surprises: driving competitive differentiation and growth.

 

Extract from LDRDB – Soren Kaplan:

All companies, whether they are successful with innovation or not, have one thing in common: they have their own “personalities.”  These personalities are their unique organizational cultures – the shared experiences, values, norms, assumptions and beliefs that shape individual and group behavior, and that (for better or for worse) ultimately impact their business success.

The most innovative companies pull the right levers to create a culture that leads to exploration, experimentation, and the innovations that positively surprise the market, create competitive differentiation, and drive growth.

So how do you do it?

Needless to say, there’s no simple answer.  Entire books, courses, and graduate school programs have focused on the topic.

This last week at the Front End of Innovation conference in Boston, I shared a presentation on the Strategies and Tools for Creating a Culture of Innovation.  Anyone tasked with leading organizational or culture change initiatives focused on innovation might benefit from the Culture of Innovation Canvas that I shared during my presentation. It’s a simple tool (download PDF or download PowerPoint) for defining the following dimensions of an organization’s innovation culture:

Leadership – How leaders influence innovation through explicit decisions and subtle behaviors;

Processes – How growth strategies and innovation are executed internally and externally including functional and cross-functional processes, customer engagement, information sharing, product and service development, and other activities;

Structure – The formal and informal organizing principles and functional designs that enable (or inhibit) collaboration and guide mindsets & behavior;

People – The mindsets and skillsets of employees, leaders, external partners and even customers tied to creative thinking, prototyping, and execution of new ideas and opportunities;

Metrics, Rewards & Recognition – The mindsets and skillsets of employees, leaders, external partners and even customers tied to creative thinking, prototyping, and execution of new ideas and opportunities;

Technology – Capabilities and tools that allow employees, external partners and customers to connect, share knowledge, and innovate.

There are also a number of resources that can be used to assess your current culture to identify opportunities for infusing a greater innovation focus:

Building Blocks of Innovation (MIT)

KEY Creativity Climate (Harvard)

LEAPS Innovation Leadership Competencies

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, recently said, “There’s no formula. If there was a formula, a lot of companies would have bought their ability to innovate.”  When it comes down to it, every leader and every company has an opportunity to create their own unique formula for innovation.  That’s the source of real innovation.

More … http://ldrlb.co/2013/05/leading-a-culture-of-innovation/

Introducing our SUPPORT service to help you achieve your full potential - http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/introducing-our-support-service-to-help-you-achieve-your-full-potential/

http://www.chaordicsolutions.co.uk/blog/from-our-change-management-consultants/introducing-our-support-service-to-help-you-achieve-your-full-potential/

In a previous post, we talked about the different ways in which our Senior Partner, Robert J Toogood, can help you and your organisation.

In this post, we focus in more detail on how Robert can SUPPORT and help you achieve your full potential during a period of significant change and/or challenge.

SERVICE FOCUS

Robert has many years experience of helping senior executives cope with complex change, and gains great personal satisfaction from providing SUPPORT in the form of practical assistance in this area.

CASE STUDY

On this SUPPORT assignment for a Client in the Life-Sciences – Medical Devices & Diagnostics sector they wanted help with supporting a business transformation programme associated with UK, France and Germany that involved the simultaneous implementation of a JD Edwards ERP solution.

Robert worked with the Project Director to re-focus implementation management governance activities and then provide ongoing programme/project support to him and key stakeholders.  

He made a difference by being able to leverage his extensive systems and programme/project organisation experience to complement that of the Client to support successful delivery of programme objectives.

TESTIMONIAL

The Client subsequently commented about Robert:

“He’s the ideal right hand man, a bit like Jiminy Cricket sitting on your shoulder reminding you of stuff that needs sorting.”

NEXT STEPS

So if you are looking for SUPPORT to help you achieve your full potential during a period of significant change and/or challenge, then Robert might be that safe pair of hands you have been looking for.  Contact him NOW on +44 (0)1983 617241 or at robert_toogood@chaordicsolutions.com to schedule some time to discuss your immediate challenges … on a strictly confidential and non-obligation basis

More … www.robertjtoogood.com … this site is best viewed from a laptop or desktop as it is not currently optimised for mobile viewing.