I just got off a call with an alumnus who recently took on a very senior role in a new company and hopefully we’ll be working with him. He has a major transformation that he is choosing to lead and I thought it would be worth writing about that again because the fundamental challenges in a Transformation effort remain consistent – they are Predictable and they are Inevitable!!! And we will be reminding this client of that.
Because companies continue to make huge investments in various initiative related to the three classical areas of Process, People and Technology and then wait for the business results to show up – mostly in vain. All kinds of promises are made related to improving competitive advantage and superior business results. We will see strategic approaches and best practices, total cost, improved processes and intensive training – all essential elements for a successful Transformation. However, most of them share most of these characteristics:
One of the biggest reasons we find for these types of results is a continued focus on cost and shifting to Value – and this is not an easy transition to make. Our function has been so focused on cost for sooooooo long that it is very hard to get out of that mindset. Because Cost at the end of the day is a Best Practice which means it can be easily replicated by your competitors. What you should be focused on is Value which is a Next Practice and by definition not easily replicated. And if our function is to gain influence and power in our companies, then we must be focused on Value because that is what our stakeholders are looking for – in every case! We can prove it to you.
The second biggest reason is that organizations focus on the foundations of the Transformation:
- Strategy
- Processes
- Tools
- Organization Structure
- Talent
- Technology etc. etc. etc.
These are all very critical and essential. However, there are another set of challenges that are far more significant and harder and these are typically not paid any attention to:
- Visibility
- Metrics/Reporting
- Knowledge Management
- Decision Processes
- Alignment
- Change Management
- Learning Environment etc. etc. etc.
Some of you may remember that we call these second set of challenges AEIOU with the argument being that you cannot make any sense with just the foundational elements – the consonants. You must have the vowels to make sense and create language.
Adoption
Enablement/Execution
Implementation
Optimization
Utilization
And here are some more details that will further explain this concept of AEIOU.
So please use this blog as a reminder to think beyond the obvious fundamental elements of your Transformation(or whatever you are calling your initiative). The consonants will leave a lot of value unless you focus on the vowels too.