Becoming Dynamic

Change is the battlecry for today’s managers. Wherever you turn, peopleare advocating the birth of a new era - the knowledge era. We are assailedon all fronts with views of how the Internet’s rapid growth will, accordingto many, change every aspect of life. Companies are merging and acquiringto gain an advantage as globalisation of markets increases. And ascompanies grow ever larger and more powerful, governments seek greaterpower of regulation in the name of consumer protection. At the same time, governments around the world are merging their powers. In all this, onething that has always been true will continue to be true. The world that weface in the future will be different. It is therefore striking that with all thischange, most organisations are still built with stability in mind. They arebuilt on an assumption that tomorrow will be very much like today; thatwhat has worked in the past will continue to work in the future. Thiscomplacency lies behind the failure of many organisations. In a dynamicworld, organisations need to be dynamic - active partners of change, notjust pawns reacting to its turns and twists. This book will examine what Ibelieve is needed to build a successful organisation but I want to begin bylooking at some of the changes that are shaping the world we face

Since writing Dynamic Organisations I have had much time to reflect on whether the basic premise that an organisation needs to succeed at four capabilities (understanding customers, product and process excellence, enabling people and leadership, vision and values) was right or wrong. I have continued to observe successful organisations and have met a great many more that do not make the grade. I have looked at other research in this area. All of this leads me to believe that these four interconnected capabilities are still valid. For those who have not read Dynamic Organisations, this chapter will review the important points in each area and examine some of the changes that I perceive are taking place.

I am a great advocate of learning. I have constantly sought new experiences and viewpoints. I have always been fascinated to look at different organisations and how they work. I have also found it invaluable to look outside the usual boundaries of management for new lessons and insights. In this chapter I want to set out some of the lessons I have learned from traditional and other sources in my quest to better understand dynamic organisations. I share these ideas because they have been so useful in helping me think about organisations in new ways; I hope they have the same value to you

The subheading of a short article discussing research into bullying at work read ‘Workers should be treated like human being’. What a strange thought. Workers are human beings. How could they be treated as anything else? The article went on to describe the dichotomy between ‘the type of boss employees want and the type needed to make companies successful’. This sums up many of the problems we face in organisations today. As the proportion of work that is reliant on the contribution of people increases, the ingrained attitudes that workers can be viewed as resources to be exploited will become a millstone around the necks of those who perpetuate such views. There is already a growing recognition of the link between employee satisfaction and productivity and customer satisfaction. Xerox’s European services business headed by Olaf Odlind has shown this relationship. The maintenance teams with the highest productivity also have the highest customer and employee satisfaction.

In organisations there are two distinct but closely interrelated cycles of change. Every organisation needs to continually examine its products and processes and find better ways of doing those activities that are necessary. New systems have to be introduced, new products brought to market and improvements to the way the organisation does business implemented. This type of change, I will call it bounded change, is bounded, with a clear end goal; the process delivers a change. The change may vary in scale or scope: a small team working on improving one of their processes, the introduction of a new organisation wide accounting system, or the delivery of a company-wide branding are all examples of bounded change. By bounded I do not mean that the change is necessarily easy to effect. Few changes are. I use the phrase because change of this nature involves bounded problems and end-points. There is a known goal to aim for, even if that goal is developed as part of the process of change.

I am a firm believer that people have an innate need to understand the ‘big picture’. I will therefore begin this section by providing an overview of what a dynamic organisation is and the process of driving fundamental culture change required in building one.

Fundamental organisational change is a major undertaking, not to be taken lightly. The first questions should always be ‘Do we need to change?’ and ‘Are we equipped to succeed?’. The purpose of asking the questions is not to make a go/no go decision, but to understand the organisation’s strengths and weaknesses and thus be better prepared to take on the change. The most important issue is an organisation’s ability to change. It is a paradox that the very capabilities that define a dynamic organisation are also the capabilities needed to drive the sort of change envisaged. Every organisation has some of these capabilities but to a greater or lesser degree. This first step therefore seeks to understand how well the organisation is currently operating. Jumping into fundamental change without this background information is to invite failure.

The understanding created by a thorough assessment of the state of the organisation is the foundation for change. It creates a picture of the compelling need to change and identifies the people who will form the core of the team to drive the change forward. Now it is time to think about what the future look likes for people in the organisation. The starting point for this is a framework that describes the organisation as it will be. That framework is holistic. It is a sketch that has all the elements but where most of the detail is missing. That will be filled in over time and by a wider constituency. This framework forms the vision that will drive the change

A vision that is not enacted is a dream. Building the framework for change starts the process of change but now it has to be acted upon. The first step is to communicate the vision to the whole organisation. This has to be done quickly but, more importantly, effectively. The people who have been involved in forming the vision understand it because they have worked through its development. They have considered the options and argued their views. They have invested emotional and intellectual energy in it. They have lived through the decisions and understand why they were taken. These are decisions that are going to effect everybody in the organisation.

Continuous improvement of the ability to profitably satisfy customers is the work of dynamic organisations. Values based leadership and organisational processes are not an end in themselves, they are an essential way of creating an organisation that competes and wins in a changing market. That requires a constant restlessness and dissatisfaction with the status quo. Perfection may not be possible but the constant search to find it leads to awesome levels of performance. This applies not only to the processes that deliver products and services to customers, but also to all the necessary processes of the organisation. The simple operating rule is to scrap everything that is not necessary and ensure that everything else operates at the highest possible levels of performance.

Great organisations without great leadership are an oxymoron. An organisation can have great values that are clearly visible in the processes that guide the organisation. It can have a superb strategy that is clear and incisive; a sure thing to win huge advantage. But without great leadership, it will have nothing. Values and strategy will remain as ideas and intentions. Of the many companies I have visited and studied, I have never found a great company that does not have great leadership.

This case study describes a successful approach to change in a business unit operating within a large multi-national information technology and services supplier. It explains how the change was planned and implemented. The issues of changing a business unit within the context of a larger corporation also undergoing change are also addressed. Whilst the process of change is detailed as accurately as possible, some aspects have been changed to protect commercially sensitive information.

There is a new breed of organisations that are changing the rules. They are building organisations that are far better equipped to cope with the rigours of a continuously changing world. They are better equipped because they are designed to better respond to change. They are not perfect, no organisation is, but they pursue perfection relentlessly. These organisations know there is no one future. Rather than follow specific visions, they build powerful organisations that constantly improve performance in every way. Their vision is to be the best at everything they do.