Leading Exponential Change

by Erich R Bühler

  What would happen if you could teach techniques so that people could solve problems using new perspectives, and thereby evolve how they reason and work? Your vision of change would need to include one or two lines that explicitly reference the expected forms of reasoning and learning to be attained from the change.

  Asking Powerful Questions

  Before creating your vision of change, you will have to do a little research to determine what will help you start that journey and provide initial traction. You can start by asking questions that will identify the foundations for that vision of change.

  Below are sample questions you could ask in your company when you need to change to better serve your clients:

  Determine the sense of urgency. Why is change needed right now?What is the status quo, problem, or opportunity that prompts you to think that now is the right time to make the change? What aspect of the current situation does not support the interactions for adapting to the era of exponential markets?

  Try to understand what inspires people. What inspires them to change and what company values do they need?Studies in human psychology suggest that people usually want to change when an acquired benefit is double that which is left behind. Try to talk to them and learn what would inspire them to change their current path. This requires identifying what brings hope and the values that you’d like to see strengthened by the change. To get these answers, ask questions such as, What would inspire you to change? What values would you want the company’s transformation to strengthen?

  Verify the expected goals. What are the objectives they want to achieve?How will you know when the change is making progress or has been completed? What is the expected result? What are the expectations of the company versus those of the employees? What simple indicators could be applied to know that habits have been integrated sustainably as part of the new working style?

  Check what should be modified. What do they think should be changed?What’s expected to change? What change is optional, desirable or mandatory? Is it a change of interactions that also requires a change in processes or behaviors? Is it something more complex that would modify part of the culture? If the company grew exponentially, how would we make the vision or change sustainable?

  Determine what could be learned. What would they like to learn? What are their personal challenges?Try to understand what employees would like to learn if they choose to take the journey of personal development. They can write a prioritized list of goals and objectives. Think about the common objectives so that all groups can align and work together. What would they like to learn each week? What is the personal challenge that impedes them from going in the new direction?

  Identify current opportunities. What benefits come from the change?What will the people, team, or company gain with the change? How will this make the organization a better place?

  Determine what the concrete product/service/personal risks are, and the required milestones. What are the risks and celebrations?Think about the risks at each stage and how you will celebrate when these risks are mitigated. What support will be needed from the rest of the organization? What will inspire the team at each stage to feel proud of being part of the initiative?

  Establish a high-level roadmap for the change. Can you create a roadmap that supports your change plan?Is the change something that can happen within a few weeks, months, or years? Remember Chapter 2, where we talked about some changes taking years while others take weeks or months (cultural versus procedural). How often should the roadmap be updated and in what way?

  While the first six questions offer help in creating the change vision, the last two make it possible to think about specific steps (execution).

  Collaboratively Creating a Vision of change

  Collaborative visions of change are powerful, as they enable all those affected by a plan, as well as those in charge of supporting the change, to become cocreators of the strategy.

  To create a collaborative vision of change, you must organize at least two 90-minute sessions. It’s a good idea to invite the managers, the sponsor of the initiative, and the groups of people who need to change. Carefully consider who should attend, keeping in mind that this is not a meeting for the simply curious or for those who will not be contributing anything relevant at this initial stage.

  In Chapter 6, I will explain how to create a Transformation Team to help implement a plan that is strongly supported by a vision of change, great strategy, and the necessary training or coaching.

  At the start of the session, introduce the problem you need to solve in no more than two minutes. Place everyone in random pairs, which will allow different points of view to be expressed in each team. Give them sticky notes, pens, and space to move about. Avoid settings such as a meeting room with a large table, as this reduces interaction.

  FIGURE 3.1: Change canvas, ©Erich Bühler

  Write the following on the first area of your canvas: “Why is change needed right now?” Give the teams eight to ten minutes to discuss and write up to three answers on the sticky notes. As they discuss, share some of the other questions for the same point to help them deepen their thoughts on the subject.

  Once the five to eight minutes are up, give the pairs two minutes each to come forward, place their sticky notes on the canvas, and share their ideas with the rest of the participants. This activity will not only help you align expectations but will also instill in your team a sense of being cocreators of change.

  Feel free to add your own observations or ask questions, encouraging others to do the same. Open questions will allow you to discover new points of view, challenges, and areas you hadn’t initially considered. Continue in the same manner with the second question, repeating the process until the end.

  Why is change needed right now?

  What inspires you to change, and what company values do you need?

  What are the objectives you want to achieve?

  What do you think should be changed?

  What would you like to learn, and what is your personal challenge?

  What benefits come from the change? You can learn more about how to ask thought-provoking questions in Eric E. Vogt, Juanita Brown, and David Isaacs’s book The Art of Powerful Questions, which you can download for free at en.Innova1st.com/30A

  You will discover many ideas and points of view that will make it possible to start thinking about that powerful vision of change. At the end of the session, it’s a good idea to thank the participants and provide them with information about what will happen next.

  As you can see, this type of activity allows the team to brainstorm and explore different points of view, eradicate doubts, create alignment, listen to powerful phrases, and develop intelligent slogans that stir emotions.

  In the second workshop, you should bring out the canvas from the previous session and spend at least ten minutes summarizing the ideas that were generated. Then ask participants what would happen if they opened their favorite newspaper the next day and found a headline and a short write-up (five to ten lines) talking about the company and the change they were about to implement. What would the story say?

  Give them ten to fifteen minutes to write the story using the information provided in the previous session. Once time is up, ask them to come forward, read their note, and paste it in the center square. Remember to encourage participants to ask questions, add comments, and express their concerns. This crucial stage enables them to mentally prepare for what comes next.

  As soon as you’re ready, start writing the first draft of the vision of change. Draw inspiration from the different stories and ask for feedback from participants. Invite them to come forward and add their thoughts on the board. In the center square, you can start by writing phrases like these:

  We change because...

  Our personal challenge is...

  We want to learn because...

  We im
prove because...

  We’re inspired to change by…

  Don’t worry if this exercise is difficult at first. It takes a few minutes to warm up before words start pouring out. Often, it will be necessary to keep participants from side-tracking toward the solution (that is, they must refrain from creating a strategy or trying to establish the steps to implement the change). There is often anxiety about taking that big leap, so indicate that this will be tackled in later sessions. You can note any questions to answer in the future or at the end of the session, as appropriate.

  Remember that your vision of change should take up no more than half a sheet of paper and should be able to be read in a maximum of sixty seconds. Once the session is over, share the initial vision draft and thank the participants. Inform them that the next steps will be related to the “how” (that is, the strategy).

  As you can see, these meetings are essential to align people and help them feel involved. Remember that the vision of change must be created collaboratively, so any modification should be communicated and discussed before it is set.

  Setting Up the Transformation Team

  Unless yours is a small company, you’ll need a team that supports you every day as you carry out the change-implementation strategy. In traditional companies, this group of employees is usually dedicated to controlling the progress of originally established goals. But the group acts differently in a company that faces the exponential growth of markets. Here the focus needs to be on constantly helping improve the company workflow and making decisions with the little information available.

  In my experience, a Transformation Team usually comprises between three and five people for every hundred individuals affected, and the team requires an important commitment (in many cases, up to 100 percent availability). Members of this team must have strong mediation skills, be willing to learn, be well respected within the organization, and possess the power to remove obstacles within the company. You should expect the following activities from a Transformation Team:

  Improving transparency and supporting the message and the change strategy.

  Demonstrating behaviors consistent with the values of the vision of change.

  Bringing to light the dependencies between areas of the company and facilitating their removal.

  Helping unlearn old practices, skills, or processes and replacing them with new ones.

  Creating necessary connections between people (or individuals with resources) so they can solve problems independently.

  Helping understand the new ways of thinking.

  Ensuring that the necessary alterations are made in the operations of the business to facilitate the change.

  Ensuring that other areas of the company or senior management understand the reason for the change.

  Creating formal and informal structures to support the flow of information within and outside the teams.

  Helping to find, recruit, or invest in new capabilities that support the vision.

  Taking care of team logistics.

  Accounting for the economic cost of decisions and the impact of any decision that would cause a delay (Cost of Delay techniques).

  Ensure those affected by the change feel that the Transformation Team is part of their day-to-day work and not viewed as an external group. In Chapter 6, I will show you how to prepare a Transformation Team for the change.

  Understanding the Importance of Commitment in Employees

  Remarkable companies treat their employees as if they were potential customers. When this isn’t the case, individuals do not commit to change plans, and without commitment, it will fall solely on your shoulders to push the initiative. I can tell you from experience that this scenario is not professionally or personally sustainable and will eat away at those in charge of the initiative.

  Months ago, I had a conversation with a manager in charge of the largest supermarket group in New Zealand. This person, although exhausted, told me she had to be in the office every day to make sure her team was aligned and would achieve their goals. The team exhibited low morale, motivation, and commitment. After being repeatedly scolded by management, they did not feel safe, and this led to dysfunctions in their interactions. They would passively smile in meetings as they accepted any workload imposed by their bosses—even though they knew they wouldn’t be able to handle the workload.

  Unfortunately, such situations are not an exception. I imagine that you have seen similar situations in other companies, where people only dedicate themselves to completing their tasks and are not actively involved in improving the organization.

  In its report on the state of workplace in 2016, the Gallup consultancy revealed that only 13 percent of the world’s workforce is committed to their work (32 percent in the United States). Recent studies indicate that there is a clear and direct correlation between the financial performance of an organization and the level of employee commitment to their work and change. To achieve strong employee commitment, the transformation must be carried out in an environment where everyone can feel safe, learn every day, and make highly visible collaborative decisions.

  When individuals do not connect with their work, they leave it up to the majority to indicate the way they expect others to solve their problems, and they do not feel capable of developing their own skills. What do you think are the reasons why the people in your company do not feel strong commitment?

  Below is a list of the reasons I usually encounter:

  Transformation plans where leaders or managers arbitrarily decide not to involve the affected groups in the decision-making process.

  Excessive multitasking, heavy workload, or a lack of positive recognition for successfully completed tasks.

  Insufficient emphasis/investment in learning.

  Lack of quality time to reflect on the processes and interactions.

  Outdated working conditions that hinder work (lack of security, trust, more than a single priority, destruction of shared knowledge, etc.).

  Lack of a realistic vision for the company, change, and product.

  Inability of people to self-organize to solve problems.

  Lack of direct contact between clients and the employees who create the product or service.

  One of the most important assets of any company is shared knowledge. Many organizations have high turnover, and they might not know how to manage this turnover. Because of this, shared knowledge is often lost, resulting in high hidden costs. Inevitably, this delays learning, innovation, and adaptability. Everyone loses motivation while the company loses its traction for change.

  Shared knowledge is the learning that results from the interactions of a team during the time they work collaboratively on one or more tasks. This includes information and skills, but also shared mental models (forms of reasoning, interpretation of expectations, and the understanding of problems). This knowledge can rarely be maintained in documents and is the “secret recipe” that gives the business its competitive advantage.

  Employee turnover radically increases the loss of shared knowledge. Research carried out by Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends in 2018 indicated that 78 percent of business leaders rated staff retention and commitment as urgent or important.

  Three types of attitude directly affect the results of change in a company:

  Committed Employees

  Those who will help you to implement the change. As soon as they understand your vision, they will do everything in their power to take it forward and remove any obstacles that arise along the way. They will actively think about how to improve processes and interactions.

  Uncommitted Employees

  They will do the work but will not feel motivated by their tasks. Tasks will be a job to be completed before they can go home.

 
Employees disconnected by their own choice

  This group is dissatisfied with the work and makes their frustration clear by actively undermining committed workers.

  Table 3.1: The three types of employees

  The first group (committed employees) makes an additional mental and physical effort to evolve interactions and processes. They work with passion and feel a deep connection with the vision of the company and its change strategy.

  Uncommitted employees often leave the company if they do not find valid motivation. But they could become highly committed allies if you involve them in the process and give them the opportunity to decide and alter the plan. This can be done through activities that provide them with the necessary space to influence decisions and with sufficient visibility to understand the initiative.

  The biggest risk to the change plan are unhappy employees who choose to disconnect and will show their lack of satisfaction by undermining the change strategy. They may be difficult to detect because they do not appear hostile or harmful. But if you pay attention, you will see that they have little or no concern for the client, produce high levels of conflict, and will complain about a situation without offering solutions.