“Can we make that information available on an iPad?” It is one of the most common requests we hear from executives in the systems transformation space – no doubt a confluence of technology and regulations. Call it the “cool factor” or simply a clever way for executives to avoid getting their fingers dirty in corporate […]
Merging two established organizations is not merely the combination of two operations under one management authority. Successful integration combines, replaces, and transforms diverse processes, systems and organizational structures. Done well, the resulting entity will be distinctly different and ideally much better than the original operations – this is the “synergy” that is goal of most […]
In his new book Good Strategy / Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters (July 2011), Richard Rumelt highlights the hallmarks of bad business strategy and recommends a framework for developing good strategy. We piggyback on his concepts to highlight the role that structured change plays in implementing good strategies. Bad Strategy According to […]
Every transformation deck I have ever opened has a vision statement on slide three. Most of them are forgettable inside a week. By the time the program is six months in, the people closest to the work could not paraphrase the vision if you asked them. The slide still gets shown. It just no longer […]
Marketing guru and best-selling author Seth Godin recently published a blog post about the warning signs of defending the status quo. When confronted with new ideas, these “defenders” are adept at emphasizing the negative aspects of change and highlighting the positive aspects of the current state. For example they: Highlight the pain to a few […]
Company leaders often ask us about common pitfalls associated with organizational change initiatives and how they can avoid them. The term “pitfall,” defined as a hidden danger in the form of a covered pit used as a trap, implies a sudden occurrence. We prefer the term quagmire which more accurately describes what actually occurs in […]
A few months ago I sat in two meetings on the same day at the same company. The first was an executive working session on a new AI initiative. The leaders in the room were sincere, optimistic, and operating from genuinely good intentions. They believed the rollout would unlock capacity for higher-value work, reduce drudgery, […]
Establishing a sense of urgency at all levels of the organization is a necessary first step in gaining the cooperation required to drive a significant change effort. Half of the companies that fail to affect needed change make their mistakes at the very beginning by not creating an appropriate sense of urgency. The approach most […]
Jesse Jacoby
