Organizational Transformation Pathway – Part 1

There are as many pathways for an organization’s transformation as there are organizations. The pathway one chooses has to be a match for the organizational dynamics one is dealing with at the given moment.

First Steps:

1. List the big challenges as articulated by the top team of the organization.
2. Understand their analysis and assumptions on why these big challenges exist and why they are important to address.
3. What are the burning fires ? Issues which are causing existential challenges for the organization and the leaders?
4. From when have these problems started, when did they reach the critical levels?
5. What has changed in the last 6 months/ 1 year?
6. What is the Vision of the leader/ organization ? Is it well articulated? Is the core team aligned to it?

3 Dimensions of Organizational Transformation:

1. SENSING – Transforming Perceptions : How people perceive others, the job, the company, the environment, themselves etc.,
2. PRESENCING – Transforming Self & Will : Connecting to personal and organizational Vision and Purpose.
3. REALIZING – Transforming Action : Mastering the art and science of Co-initiating to Co-evolving.

Key Phases of Organizational Transformation inside of the first dimension of SENSING – Transforming Perception:

1. Find the team of top leaders who are committed to turning the organization around.
2. Create the process alignment on the broad spectrum of the way forward
3. Address communication and organization culture within the team and within the organization by training and coaching people in deep listening , empathy walks, stakeholder interviews, sensing journeys etc., That is the critical step for developing the ability to transform perception. Unless one learns and masters transforming perception, one is a victim of the inherited perception believing it to be a REALITY.
4. Get the company in the habit of getting out of their head and seeing the world from the eyes of the various stakeholders and also seeing themselves from the eyes of the stakeholders. Stakeholders including employees, associates, customers , vendors, families, government, regulatory bodies, industry and society at large.
5. With the transformed perception, the company, its leaders and key employees and associates can start looking afresh at their vision and purpose; their real, long term vision and purpose and start to look at what future they want to honour.
6. This would generally include taking a fresh look at their products, services, quality, pricing, staff, leadership and overall approach to business. Examples: 1. One company MD had to really confront that the customer service problem was not the problem of the customer service department and the department head; but it was his problem and the whole company’s problem. 2. Most Entrepreneurs discover that the work distribution method among the people have now lead to departmental silos leading to unimaginable inefficiencies. 3. Recently, a CEO discovered that he will have to let go off his belief that his customers will not pay for the extra costs that he will have to bear for getting the right quality; and confront that if they don;t have the right quality they are already paying heavily due to loss in branding, pricing, market share, credit terms, sales team motivation and performance and the overall culture of the organization.

Key Phases of Organizational Transformation inside of the second dimension of PRESENCING – Transforming Self & Will :

This is the phase of letting go and letting come. Discovering and Letting go of all the past based thought patterns that have been shaping the organization knowingly and unknowingly.

Some of the examples include letting go of:

1. Limited View of company from the personal perspectives, past based or otherwise.
2. Quality of staff that the company can have
3. Quality of products, services,policies, processes that the company can have
4. Market Positioning, Pricing, Branding and more
5. Business Models, Product and Service Range
6. Recruitment, people management, performance appraisals, R & R and much more
7. Innovation
8. Organization Culture
9. Role of leadership as well as that of supervisors and managers
10. Investments, sources of investment, cash flow management and more

Most importantly, one has to be willing to discover and let go every possible conversation that can be a barrier in creating a great organization in alignment with the vision and purpose.

Once, there is a substantial amount of letting go of the attachments to the past, then the team can start sensing and tuning in to what is the highest future opportunity that wants to emerge and start syncing themselves to that highest future opportunity.

A re-visualized organization.

Let the game begin.

Manoj Onkar, MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS & EMERGING FUTURZ. http://www.managementinnovations.co.in ; http://www.emergingfuturz.com; manoj@managementinnovations.co.in ; lfef@emergingfuturz.com