Having had some free time recently we have been thinking about some of the common factors that we regularly see associated with successful organisational transformations to modern Lean and Agile ways of working. The first of these ‘keys’ to successful transformation that we are going to consider is the role of the leadership team and how levels of leadership commitment can make or break the transformation.
We are starting with this because we believe that leadership commitment is probably the most significant independent factor in the success or failure of an organisational transformation. This is not to say that leaders are actively sabotaging their organisations, but rather that they often do not truly understand what is required of them.
This is not entirely their fault – we often see ‘consultants’ selling snake oil ‘quick fixes’ to highly complex and difficult challenges and ‘agile coaches’ pushing a manifesto for software development as the solution to all organisational challenges. Leadership is often missing specific and effective transformation support that is meaningful to their role as leaders and will help them to drive a successful transformation.
So, what does good leadership look like in a successful transformation?
Clear imperative for change
As many people will have experienced recently through the COVID-19 crisis, a clear reason to change can help organisations focus, align and rapidly respond to changes in the market. Leaders who are successful in orchestrating organisational transformation are adept at providing and communicating a clear and immediate imperative for change. They are able to form a compelling narrative that helps the organisation understand the threat which forms the rationale for the changes required.
This clear imperative for change also needs to be accompanied by a sense of urgency for change in order to motivate the organisation into action – the first step in Kotter’s change model.
Again, with the recent COVID-19 crisis this was provided by forces external to the organisation and was highly focussed. Where transformation is driven internally by the organisation as part of a drive to be better, the leadership needs to create the necessary urgency to provide energy for change.
Leadership teams that are not able to articulate a clear imperative for change or generate a sense of urgency to do so will struggle to secure the commitment, motivation and support from the organisation to change – after all, why should they? There is no explanation of why the changes being advocated are important!
United leadership team working towards a common vision
Once the leadership have provided a clear reason for change and generated a sense of urgency around this, they then need to create a clear future organisational vision and agree to work together towards this while supporting the ongoing business.
While this may seem obvious, it is not uncommon to find leadership teams that do not have this shared vision. Leadership teams are commonly fractured along functional responsibilities which often leads to individuals competing against each other rather than focussing on a common goal. An agreed organisational vision and commitment to work towards this shared vision is critical to aligning a leadership team to a future state and providing the common basis on which they can work together across these functional lines.
A common error which leaders who are new to the concept of organisational vision make, is to confuse it with their business vision. The business vision is about the ‘what’ of the business – what the organisation ‘exists’ to do. The organisational vision is about ‘how’ the business uses its people, tools and processes to create competitive advantage in the delivery of its products and services to their customers. Clearly, the organisational vision needs to support the business vision, but it cannot be replaced by it. Successful organisational transformations have leadership teams that are focussed around the delivery of the future organisation as outlined in their shared vision and communicated to the whole organisation.
Ongoing involvement and support
Having a clear imperative for change and a shared organisational vision for the future state are critical elements that a leadership team contribute to the success of the transformation, but their role does not end there.
Successful transformations have leadership teams that are engaged from start to finish. This includes identifying and backing the strategies and mechanisms that will derive change and guiding the prioritisation of work to make the space for the organisation to change. In addition, leaders also need to provide sponsorship and support in the critical areas of funding, governance, resourcing and the removal of blockers that ensure that transformation activities are not second place to ‘keeping the lights on’.
This is not always easy, particularly for leadership teams that are not used to working in this way. Leadership teams in successful transformations recognise that their support is critical to building the future organisation, and remain engaged in the work that is being done to bring their shared future vision to life. It is only this sustained support that prevents the transformation losing momentum and petering out.